Moments in Collection
by Solaced Whimsy
Summary: A series of Eleven/Amy oneshots; most written as requests. Spoilers for those who haven't seen up to S6.07, 'A Good Man Goes to War' inside. Most of the installments are stand-alones, and the rating will probably change at some point.
1. Sink or Swim

The prompt/inspiration for this was the following lyrics:

**Kamikaze Airplanes in the sky.  
>Are we going down or will we fly?<br>This could be a ship wreck on the shore.  
>Or we could sail away forever more.<br>This time it's sink of swim.**

From the song _'Sink or Swim'_ by Tyrone Wells.  
>Set at the end of and the time after '<em>Day of the Moon<em>'.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own ANY of this stuff; not the characters or the main story...nothing. So.

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><p>It was, really, very funny how two words that were so trivial could have such a large effect on a person's life, especially when one had traveled through time, been brought back from the dead, seen people die and come back, been followed closely by a crack in the universe itself…<br>But it was two words that had Amy facing something very, very challenging.  
><em>"Stupid Face."<em>

In the moment she had let them slip out and then seen that look on Rory's face, she knew instantly that if the Doctor had heard what she had been wishing he would hear, he hadn't been the only one. After so many times of being in this situation and face-to-face with that flippy-haired Raggedy Doctor of hers instead of Rory, it was a habit to say something like that to him—to someone that wasn't Rory, someone that would never be Rory and that she had meant that message that she knew he had heard for—and she wished this once she had been able to stifle it.  
>It was by some kind of divine grace that she hadn't had to expand on what she'd said that exact moment. They ran, they escaped, and when they were safe in the TARDIS again, Amy realized that the entire time she'd been lost in thoughts, knowing that now there was no going back on those words.<p>

Over Rory's shoulder she could see the Doctor at the TARDIS' console, could see him trying very hard not to look at her—and she knew he was, his lip always fidgeted a bit when he was trying not to look at something—but when he gave in and his green eyes met hers even across that distance, and they were so, so far apart. He was the sailing ship that was being carried further and further away from her out to sea, and all she could do was stand on the shore and gaze off at him as he drifted away. Her eyes went back to Rory's, and she saw familiar places, familiar faces, a land that she knew and would always know and that held small surprises and a family with a little house that she would live in and give to her children one day. Rory was comfort, and he was that net of safety that she should have wanted to rest in and settle with.

_The Doctor_, though—he was new, and he was distant shores and open air and he was strange and shocking and dangerous and so _wonderful_. He was everything she could never even dream of and so much more; but now he was the ship that was sailing away from her and looking back with lips that couldn't say goodbye. She could see it in his eyes that he knew as well as she did what the right choice for her was. He had always wanted her to be safe, he had told her so many times that this could not work. In her sleep he had whispered to her to love Rory, and she had. But his eyes on her eyes, his arms around her and his lips to her forehead over and over…they told her a different story. He wanted her to stay, he wanted to be able to let her love him, he wanted so much to be selfish over her. The Doctor and Amy Pond and all of the days they could have. The Doctor and Amy Pond, and together they could fly and fall together.

As she stood in front of Rory, looking into his face that was fearful and excited, she knew that with him, there was fear to fly. There was fear of falling, and the knowledge that if they stayed together on the ground they could be safe and happy anyhow.  
>But Amy had tasted the sky, and a life forever only staring upwards sent a pain through her heart so intense that for a split-second she nearly clutched her chest. She'd spent so many years looking up and waiting to fly, waiting for that strange wonderful magical man to pull her into the stars with him.<br>Her voice sounded so normal as she answered him but in her thoughts she barely heard what she was saying, and as Rory kissed her, her eyes wandered to the TARDIS' console again. The Doctor had moved out of her sight for now, but she wasn't going to let him leave her behind. 

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><p>The TARDIS had gone dark to simulate night for it's passengers, but under the neon-lit platform of the console, the blue glow lit up two figures standing close and speaking in quiet whispers.<br>Amy's arms slid around the Doctor's neck, and her cheek pressed to his chest. Briefly she listened only to the soft beating of his two hearts before feeling his arms slide around her, one hand slowly trailing up through her long curls. His mouth pressed to the top of her head, and he tightened his grip on her for a moment, closing his eyes and she doing the same.  
>"What are we doing, Pond?" His voice was barely a whisper.<br>"We're getting carried out to sea." She replied, burying her face against the fabric of his shirt and inhaling the strange and familiar smell of him. He held her back from him for a moment, hands gently holding her shoulders as he gazed down at her.  
>"Amy." He shut his eyes again, taking a deep inhale as he did. Slowly he pulled her close again. "Amy…The further out ships sail, the deeper they sink. I can't let you sink. I can't let you drown." Her fingers take hold of the lapels of his blazer.<br>"You never do." She said, and her eyes met his again, a smile playing over her lips. The Doctor brought a hand up to cup her cheek, and she leaned in, touching her forehead to his. "We could sail forever, you and me—you know we could. And if we sink, we can swim to shore together." He let out a small, soft laugh, rubbing their noses together and closing his eyes, whispering her name once, twice, three times—  
>"What if I can't swim, Pond?" She held back a laugh, shutting her eyes and speaking so close to his lips that he could feel hers moving as she did.<br>"I can teach you."  
>He kissed her, this time, and neither of them pulled back, both of them moving together in a unison that their bodies had waited for since they'd been brought together again.<p>

Maybe they would sink one day. But until then they had such a magnificent journey to look forward to, together—and she would never regret that.

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><p><strong>AN:** _And there's the first installment! I hope I didn't disappoint; this one's my first DW fic EVER. I've just recently gotten into the series, and I'm absolutely in love with it now._  
><em>Stick around for more!<em>


	2. When Time Goes Backwards

The prompt in this case was:

'There is a danish song called "When time goes backwards"

**So touch me now, When time goes backward,  
>Watch me now, 'cause I can only go forwards,<br>I can't walk a different way, another way,  
>I gave you everything, 'cause I couldn't give you less,<br>Jumped and fell,  
>Knew you'd find me, and you've shown me where I am and who I am'<strong>

Disclaimer, again: I own none of this. Aww.**  
><strong>

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><p>There was a point that had come—he wasn't sure when—and the Doctor had realized that he was in love with Amy Pond.<br>He couldn't have her. She belonged to Rory and to the human race and to her proper time period; the time period where she would be married and grow old and live with her husband and children and her fairytale name. He shouldn't love her. She was mortal and would age and she was so fragile, bringing her into his world had been something he couldn't resist and something he knew he should never have done. Though, even thinking that, he could never regret it. He could never regret her. Amy Pond. Amelia Pond. _Amy, Amy, Amy_. She had become something necessary in his existence now. He had become attached to her in a way that he fought to control but still couldn't; he couldn't resist touching her face, her hands, her hair—_oh, her hair!_—and the first time he had kissed her forehead, he knew he was going to have a hard time not being right next to her always. She was the fairytale in his world of science that wasn't fiction. She was sunlight and warmth and smiles and affection, and the Doctor had come to know and accept the fact that he would catapult himself into the sun if it meant saving her life. There was something mystical about that, he thought, that he would risk his own existence to ensure hers, something old and powerful that had taken hold of him. The more he thought about it the more it amazed him, like most things in this vast universe did. He would give her everything. He would give everything FOR her.

.

.

.

He knew she loved him.  
>That was probably the hardest part for him. Knowing that she loved him like he loved her, and knowing that this was so wrong for her, that he was so selfish for wanting her to stay—and even worse, so much worse!—for feeling so wonderfully happy knowing that she loved him. She made him happy, and that was such a beautiful and terrible thing for both of them; every time they touched, every time they caught one another's eyes…every time they embraced, it was everything he could do to not tell her then and there that he wanted her so badly, needed her in his strange and dangerous life and to keep her right there against him, feeling her skin and her hair and her very being pressed to his. They fit so well, she and him, he and her. Amy Pond and her Raggedy Doctor, because without doubt, he was hers.<p>

He had resolve, sometimes. To try and distance them so that she could be happy and he could slowly, somehow, find a way to live without her. It was broken every time she touched him, every time she smiled that brilliant smile of hers that made him think of sun during rainshowers and fishfingers and custard. Every time she said 'Doctor', he wondered why he'd even tried to let go of her to begin with. Something always brought him back to the fact that he'd give up everything for Amy Pond—there was no way he couldn't—would leap into the void for her and not know if he would live through it to be with her again, just resting in the comfort that she would still exist somewhere in the universe. It was a very odd comfort to a Time Lord; rejoicing like he did in the idea that somewhere, in some time and some place however far away, one human, one woman, _Amy Pond_, would be alive. 900 years, and he could still be amazed. 900 years and counting—and with one human girl, he was finding out things about himself that he'd never known.

Although after all of that, after coming to the conclusion of everything he would lose for her, he knew that there would always be the certainty that he would be with her again. The Doctor knew that no matter how deep into the darkness he was, Amy would find him. Like sunlight, like warmth. Amy would _always_ find him and with her, the Doctor could find happiness, no matter how fleeting and selfish it was. He couldn't forsake who and what he was, but Amy had never wanted him to. She accepted and loved all of him, everything that was human and not-so-human in him, everything wonderful and terrifying, and she stayed. Amy Pond, the girl who could comfort one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

.

.

.

.

**"Doctor?"** he shook himself out of his thoughts.  
>"Hm—ah, something wrong, Pond?" He asked, shaking some hair out of his face and giving her a wide grin. Amy raised an eyebrow at him, a smile spreading over her face.<br>"No, nothing, just you were looking a bit…gone." She replied, her gaze suggesting that she knew something was going on. "Something troubling you?" the redhead leaned back against the console where he stood, resting her hands behind her to prop herself up as she looked up at him questioningly. The Doctor thought about this for a moment, before opening his mouth—and then thinking better of whatever he was going to say.  
>"Oh no, never gone, Pond. Just taking a walk through my thoughts."<br>"Sounds adventurous." She grinned as he mirrored her position, crossing his legs at the ankles in front of him. They both looked up at the roof of the TARDIS for a long moment.  
>"Amy…" he said suddenly, and when she looked over at him again she was caught in a very intense stare of his. Her breath caught and she couldn't reply. "Amy, do you ever have those 'falling' dreams?" He asked. She made an odd face.<br>"Sure. Doesn't everyone?" She asked with a light laugh. He smiled.  
>"Wouldn't know. What happens, when you're falling?"<br>"Well…" She looked back up at the ceiling, thinking. He watched as after a second, she seemed to catch his meaning, and her lips curved up into a smile, her eyes shut, and over the console, her hand moved to rest on top of his. "You catch me. Usually." He moved closer next to her.  
>"Usually?"<br>"Usually." His expression was perplexed for a split-second, her eyes were still closed. He moved to stand directly in front of her, both of his hands covering hers on either side of her. His forehead met hers.  
>"What happens when I don't catch you?" She opened her eyes again, her smile melting him.<br>"We fall together. Sometimes we land in strange lands. Once we landed in an ocean—I had to pull you to shore and you whined and complained the whole time that you couldn't swim." Her answer made him shut his eyes and laugh, shaking his head. "But," she called his attention back again. "We're always together when we land, Doctor. Always." He just stared at her for a long moment, looking almost surprised before smiling happily back at her.  
>"I can live with that."<p>

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><p><strong>AN:** _Number two! Taking requests for these has been very entertaining; I'm glad I decided to do so. I hope you all are enjoying them as much as I enjoyed writing them!_


	3. Sugar Rush

"My favourite song, 'Sugar Rush' by Cash Cash; most favourite part below.

**'You got me all lit up in your fireworks**  
><strong>Come on we'll light the sky<strong>  
><strong>Smokes a shooting fly<strong>  
><strong>Let's give it a chance tonight.'<strong> "

Disclaimer ( We need these, all right? ): As painful as it is to continually admit this, I own nothing.

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><p>Amy had come running out of the wedding hall towards him, veil flying out behind her, dress bunched up in her hands. He looked shocked, stopping in the doorway of the TARDIS.<p>

"Amy! What're you doing. I wasn't lea—"

"Let's leave." She said, out of breath. He was shocked, his face showing this.

"What—Amy you've just gotten marri—"

"And _you've_ just popped back into my life from wherever in time in space that you disappeared to!" She was rushing past him, taking his hand and pulling him into the TARDIS with her.  
>He shut the door behind them and looked up at her as she stood, in her wedding gown still, at the console. This couldn't happen.<p>

"Amy…" He started, walking up the little stepladder slowly, trying to think of what to tell her to make her turn back. She cut him off before he could say anything else, taking hold of the lapels of his suit coat.

"Doctor." She said, and her eyes unwaveringly gazing into his. "Doctor take me somewhere. I don't care where, anywhere. Take me somewhere." Something in her voice made his breath hitch in his throat. He took her hands in his.

"Amy. You know I shouldn't."

"You shouldn't have taken me before the night before my wedding. You shouldn't have put me in danger. You shouldn't have done a lot of things, Doctor. Yes, I remember. But please. Right now, I just…I need to go somewhere." She was the one to touch her forehead to his this time. "With you." He put a hand on the back of her head, holding them together for a moment.

"Amy. Amy…Amy." He couldn't think of what to say. This was all he wanted from her, to be with her, for her to want to be with him, for them to run off together somewhere. But this was wrong. She was running away again, and he would be so wrong to take her. "Amy you have to come back here." he said seriously, looking into her eyes. "I can't just take you away now." Slowly, a smile spread over her face.

"That would be true, Doctor, if I was married."

He looked blank, holding her back from him by the shoulders.  
>"Amy you're in a wedding dress. I was <em>there<em>! They were all there, I saw your family and—"

"You saw the wedding rehearsal. This is my mother's gown." She said, holding up a hand with only an engagement ring on it. "I'm not married." He blinked.

"Not married."

"Not married." She smiled, her arms going around his neck."We have all the time in the universe to be back here, but I want to be with you right now." She said, and her expression had sobered as she gazed up at him.

Not long later, Amy had found a change of clothes in the room she'd stayed in before—somehow they were still there, which amazed her—and they had landed in what had to be Paris (she saw the Eiffel tower off in the distance) but it was certainly years in the future judging by the new buildings, strange bridges that looked like they were made of light and glass, and even the clothes people were wearing.

It was night here, and the one thing that Amy thought would never change, judging by the view, was that Paris was the City of Lights. The Doctor stepped out next to her, and Amy took his hand.  
>"Well this is definitely my idea of a good trip." She said with a light laugh. He, now back in his usual getup, still looked almost amazed at the fact she was with him.<p>

"Amy—"

"Are you hungry? Let's find a shop that sells pastries—I bet there's all kinds of new desserts now!" She was already pulling him along with her down a lamp-lit street, past lit up windows and people dining at outdoor tables. He let her, following after her, trying to catch up with what was  
>happening in his head.<p>

Amy wasn't married. Amy had asked him to take her away with him, again, before he was too late for her to be married. Amy was with him in a distant future-Paris, her hand holding his, like nothing had happened. But something _had_ happened. So many things had happened.

"Amy I think we—" She was in rare form for cutting him off tonight, clearly. Backing him up against the door of a closed-up shop suddenly, she had a hand on either side of his shoulders to keep him there.

"Doctor, I want to enjoy this. I want to just be with you and have…have fun! Have fun like we always have! I remembered you. I _remembered_ you!" She cried, and her arms were around him, her face buried in his chest. "I could have never seen you again!" She whispered fiercely. "You could have been gone forever, but I remembered you! That has to mean somethi—that _HAS_ to mean _something_! I was terrified, thinking something was gone, and something was so wrong. I looked at Rory and I looked at all those people and I didn't see you—and it terrified me. It scared me more than anything has before. It was so…so _wrong_, suddenly, and I couldn't…I thought back so hard, I knew, I just _KNEW _that I hadn't lost you. I knew you wouldn't really leave me. And I…I don't…I don't want to leave you." She looked up at him again, and her eyes were gathering tears now. It was all he could do to not just stop them then and there in any way he could. "If you don't want me here, if you don't want to be here, then…then take me home. Just tell me you don't want to be with me, and I won't stop you."

It was like she'd knocked the air out of his lungs.

Not want to be with her. Not want to be with Amy Pond. He took her face in his hands, his thumbs wiping any tears in her eyes away. He kissed her forehead, pulling back to put their heads together.

"Amy Pond. Mad, _impossible_, Amy Pond." He murmured. "I would never send you away." He replied, and she threw her arms around his neck, pulling him to her as she kissed his cheek, rubbing their cheeks together as he swung her around with a laugh, his arms around her waist. Passersby smiled at the two of them, some laughed, some smiled tenderly, some whispered to one another as they passed.

"Where do you want to go after we buy pastries?" He asked her with a grin. She laughed happily, her feet meeting the ground again.

"Somewhere with every flavor of ice cream there is!"

"…What! Come along, Pond, we can get pastries afterwards. I wasn't aware we were craving ice cream this evening." He smiled brightly at her. This was like it had been before. This was what they had been before. He made her laugh, she held his hand. He basked in the glow of warmth and happiness and adventure and humanity that she exuded, and she kept him close, stayed right at his side, regardless of whatever there was inhuman about him. They were the perfect duo, and they were completely wrong, and they were everything one another needed.

"My Raggedy Doctor." Amy whispered as they stopped before getting into the TARDIS again, touching the end of her nose to his and smiling, her arms around his neck again.

"Amelia Pond, the Girl Who Waited." He grinned, hands locking together at the small of her back.  
>They moved together to close the distance between them, their lips meeting for only moments, but when they pulled apart, it was enough. Amy seemed to glow with happiness. Her joy radiated off of her like fireworks in a dark sky, and the bliss she was giving off had swept him away with her. They were like shooting stars, trailing around each other for so long without meeting, until now. Now, he felt himself plummeting to some unknown and exciting fate, the two of them holding fast to one another, blazing towards whatever the future held together. He would chance it, with her. He was prepared to face a future, no matter how uncertain and even frightening, with her. They had come together, finally, though, and it felt like he was the one who had been waiting all along for her, without even realizing it.<p>

"The Girl Who Waited." he whispered again, kissing her nose.

"Only for you." She replied, pushing the TARDIS door open and pulling them both inside, the door clicking shut behind them.

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><p><strong>AN:** _Number 3. I've been trying to get into the swing of writing for them; it's definitely not easy! There's a lot going on inside the Doctor's head that we never really get to see or delve into, and from time to time I end up stopping mid-line and saying to myself 'Wait, would this work...?'_  
><em>This one was much less canon-compliant, which was new for me, so I'm hoping I didn't muck it up too badly.<em>  
><em>Also, this was an attempt to space things a bit better; I'd been trying to work out how to do that, so hopefully this looks better! Thanks for the tip, <strong>Amethyst Skulkyrie Cain<strong>!_


	4. Dance in the Dark

"**Amy tries to teach the Doctor how to dance a human dance; the Waltz**"

Disclaimer: I should copy and paste this thing. I don't know why I do this to myself and type it all out every time. I still own nothing, everyone.

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><p>They had taken to exploring the TARDIS tonight; Amy had been poking around near the library when the Doctor had emerged and found her tugging at the knob of a locked door, looking rather annoyed at the fact that she couldn't get in.<p>

"What are you doing, Pond?" He asked, hands in his pockets and an eyebrow quirked as he walked up to her. Amy had stopped trying to force the door and shrugged at him, looking back at it.

"Can't sleep. What's this door lead to?" She asked, completely unfazed by the idea that maybe he just hadn't wanted her in there, hence the lock. However, instead of looking cross, the Doctor looked the door up and down quizzically, a thoughtful look on his face.

"I haven't any idea." He replied simply, and Amy let out a short laugh.

"Well, it's locked. Sonic it open! Let's see what's inside." She rubbed her hands together jokingly, giving him a wide grin. His lips curved up into a similar smile at her curiosity, and with some ceremony, he withdrew his Sonic Screwdriver from his inside coat pocket, and within moments the two of them were standing in the now-open doorway of what looked like some kind of TARDIS ballroom. Amy strode inside, looking around herself at the enormous room in awe, while the Doctor clicked the lights on. It was like plenty of other rooms in the strange ship, just…much larger, much taller, and very, very empty.

.

.

Turning in a full circle once she'd gotten out towards the middle of the wide expanse of floor, Amy turned back to face the Doctor.  
>"Oooh, maybe we ought to throw a party, hmm Doctor?" She made a silly face at him, smiling. His brow went up.<p>

"Whoever would we invite, hmm? There's you, me, Rory…"

"And River."

"Yes, and River I suppose. I'll send her invitation in care of the Stormcage Prison, shall I?"

"Well it isn't like she wouldn't come."

"Of course she would. Loves a party, River." He'd walked over to stand with her in the middle of the floor, looking around as he'd come. "Four of us isn't much of a party, is it?" Amy thought about this.

"We could always invite some of your enemies." She said, looking at him very seriously. For a moment he had to wonder if she was joking. "On the invitations it could say, 'Intergalactic Peace Convention'!" She waved her hands in a showy fashion. "They could come from all over to _get down _in the TARDIS." She had started laughing in the middle of this sentence and the Doctor found himself chuckling too at the thought of some of his more prominent enemies 'boogie-ing down' here.

"Oh it'll be loads of fun," He replied, "right up 'till one of the lot gets plucky and tries to commandeer the TARDIS. But up until that point, _what a ride_!" They were both laughing now, and the Doctor slid an arm around Amy's shoulders as they held onto each other for support.  
>When they regained some composure, Amy spoke up again.<p>

"I don't know how good a dance party would be, actually." She thought about this. The Doctor looked down at her curiously.

"Oh?"

"Yeah—with moves like yours who knows what might happen in a crowded room." He gave her a look, but couldn't suppress the grin on his face.

"And I suppose you're the authority on proper dancing then, are you? My moves happen to be very hip—"

"Yeah on what planet?" Amy teased. "And I know a thing or two about dancing." She said, folding her arms and looking very superior about it. He stepped back, looking mock-surprised.

"Do you, now?" Without warning Amy had taken him by the hands and was calling to the TARDIS to set some music for them.

.

.

There was music playing around them within moments—a traditional waltz. Amy had had something a little more modern in mind but she supposed she hadn't had to take those classical dance lessons for nothing. Taking the Doctor's hands, she positioned them so that their arms were in proper place; and then taking his opposide hand, she was off leading him over the floor.

She didn't ask if he knew how, just started leading him through the steps as well as she remembered to.

"One, two, three—no, no—ah my foot!" She was laughing, and trying to steer them, while he was smiling and holding onto her, trying to do as she instructed through her happy laughter.

He caught on to her lessons after some amount of trial. Amy had been making remarks about how in 900 years he'd never learned proper dancing, which he'd just shrugged off and replied to with quips about teaching methods and how he must just have two left feet.  
>Somewhere through their lessons, however, his arm had slid around her even further, so that his hand was cradling the small of her back, and Amy had stopped giving instructions, instead just gazing up at him as they danced. The music was soft, and she found herself idly wondering if the lights had dimmed or if it was just her eyes.<p>

Dancing with Amy. He was _waltzing_ with Amy Pond.

They barely had any time like this together anymore, and who knew how long they'd been in this room now, but he wasn't about to say anything to end the dance. Personally he'd noticed the lights dimming—the old girl seemed to be up to some fun—but had said nothing, just enjoying being so close to Amy without interruption. If Amy had noticed anything odd, she hadn't mentioned it either, and suddenly, she moved closer to rest her head on the Doctor's collar as they continued moving. He closed his eyes, swaying with her, until they both stopped.

"The music's stopped." Amy whispered, eyes still shut, her face in front of his now.

"So it has." He replied, his voice no louder than hers. They were still in that close embrace they'd been in while dancing, but a long breath of silence passed between them. Hesitantly, he closed the gap between their foreheads, sighing quietly as he felt her nose brush his.  
>Somehow they always ended up this way, so close together, with entire worlds between them. Her hands left their positions and moved to slide over his chest to rest on his hearts, and his arms rested around her waist. Opening his eyes just a crack, he saw the lights were almost completely out, were glowing with a soft white glow now. He saw her smiling there in the dark, and the worlds separating them didn't seem so vast.<p>

Amy felt his hearts beating, and pressed herself closer to him, feeling his arms tighten around her. This was what they were, these scattered moments of embraces and heartbeats; moments of hearing his soft breathing and feeling her eyelashes on his cheeks. They were moments stopped in time, because that seemed to be the only way they were together. They were unspoken words and an unseen bond, they were hope that there would be more moments like this to come for them. They were the fear that if they were to kiss, it might be their last; the knowledge that they were content to just be near one another, even if it was at the edge of the world—and it had been, before.

He didn't want to let her go, didn't want to tell her to go get sleep and know that she would be going back to slide into bed next to her husband. He didn't want to watch her walk away from him again; it would never cease to be painful when he did, no matter how long she would be gone.  
>Tilting his head up, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, and felt her hands take a gentle hold onto his shirt.<p>

Now that they had found this room, however, he could continue investing in her dance lessons.

As long as she never found out that he already knew how to waltz.

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><p><strong>AN:** _As soon as I got this prompt I knew how I was going to end it.  
>The Doctor can be very sneaky when he wants to be; and I imagine after 900 years of living he would have learned a waltz or two in his day.<em>

_He just prefers his own style of dancing._

_It's got to be the in-thing somewhere, right?_


	5. The Normal Passage of Time

**'Pregnant!Amy; with a quote from 5.10-**  
><strong>Doctor: "Is this how time normally passes? Very, very, slowly" '<strong>

Disclaimer: Well, I didn't copy and paste it. I still own nothing. Oh if wishes were fishes...

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><p>Amy had fought him tooth and nail—almost literally, he was glad she hadn't resorted to that, though—against leaving her behind at some point.<br>She knew, deep down, that the Doctor was right; that he just wanted to keep her safe until this was over, but deeper down than that, she was still the little girl who had grown into a woman that feared seeing him leave, knowing that at some point he would always come back—but that she didn't want him to be gone for long. He assured her over and over again that he would never leave her—and she always told him  
>she knew that ( she did ),<br>that she loved him ( she did ),  
>but that he was completely inept with any concept of time at all, for a time-traveler who even called himself a Time LORD ( he was ).<br>He would protest, but she'd silence him with a kiss and with the assurance that:

"I trust you, I don't trust your sense of punctuality."

And so it came that even as he was leaving her with her parents, she was cross with him all through their reunion.  
>Her parents had looked absolutely shocked; but then what else did parents look when their only daughter showed up after weeks—months, really—on their doorstep again, an almost sheepish smile on her face, a man in tow that they had believed to be imaginary since she was a child, and with the news that she was, believe it or not ( and they could believe it, from the way she looked ) about 6 months pregnant?<p>

.

Amy and the Doctor had spent a few hours talking with her parents about the whole situation, although Amy was still sullen about the whole thing. Her mother had told her to stop pouting more than once, but she was in a petulant mood to mask the sadness that was threatening to pour out of her because of her Doctor leaving, even for just a few days, again.

She was irritable and grouchy with all of them up until the moment she saw him getting into the TARDIS—and that was when she ran from the doorway of her house to throw her arms around him from behind, crying silently into the back of his jacket and not wanting to let go. He smiled knowingly, turning around and giving her a tight hug, lifting her off the ground and setting her back down again, kissing the top of her head and promising her over and over again in whispers that he wouldn't ever leave her, wouldn't be gone forever, would be checking in every few days or so, would be safe, would bring River to see her, would bring her souvenirs, even, until she eased up on the almost suffocating grip she had on him, and managed a smile and a nod.

He gave her a grin and a little kiss, placing a hand on her round stomach as he did.  
>"Now then. Go inside, tell your mum and dad if they ever are in need of anything for the house they have but to ask, and get some rest. Oh—have some fish fingers and custard, that'll do you good. Fish fingers and custard are good for the soul I think." He put a hand on her stomach affectionately. "The little bean in there could use some too, I'm sure; if he's-" Amy laughed.<p>

"-Anything like his father. Fish fingers and custard. I promise." She nodded, and after another tight embrace, he was in the TARDIS, Amy had walked back a few steps, and waved a small wave at it as the blue police box and the strange, mad, wonderful man inside of it disappeared.

.

.

But it, and he, reappeared often enough to make Amy actually impressed with his attendance. He remarked once that he felt like he was in school—asked her if she was going to grade him on this in another few months, which had earned him a light punch in the arm.

Her parents were dealing with the whole thing surprisingly well, which did and did not surprise her; she had three months left in her pregnancy, the father of her unborn child was not only gone most of the time, but was in fact, genetically if not physically, an alien who traveled through time and space in a blue police box, and had been what they thought was her imaginary friend from childhood. It was something she went over in her head often, and always ended in her silently congratulating her parents on their good show of acceptance.

As for the Doctor, he popped in and out at random, always bringing her some odd trinket, or bringing her parents some strange gadget—she'd warned him after the new 'toaster' that had nearly taken down their entire kitchen to try and make these gifts somewhat…smaller, or more practical, or less flaming—and he'd taken her out on a number of excursions to shopping malls in other time periods for baby things ( she had loads and loads of new toys and clothing that fascinated her enough that her parents had found her playing with some of the toys herself on multiple occasions ) he'd taken her on lunch and dinner dates, and to doctor's appointments ( her parents had questioned those; 'wasn't he a doctor?' they always asked ) in what he assured her was the finest medical facility in the universe.

He'd even brought River to see her more than once, which was fantastic for Amy.

River had burst out of the TARDIS before even the Doctor, the first time she'd come, and had dashed to give Amy a hug, looking her over and taking her arm to lead them both inside, chatting like they were sisters who hadn't seen each other in a while.

When River left with the Doctor again, her mother had casually asked if Amy was comfortable with River traveling alone with the Doctor like that—to which Amy had responded,  
>"I trust River with my life, and with his," And that had been that, regardless of any follow-up questions.<p>

Their meetings always ended similarly. Amy saw him off into his strange box, but not before they'd stood outside of it, their foreheads pressed together, one of his hands on the back of her head, the other on her stomach. Her arms were around his neck.

They stood like that out in the yard until he pulled back, kissed her forehead, and then usually turned to get into the box, but Amy always laughed, grabbed him by the collar, and tugged him into a kiss. He'd lift her up, swing her around, and they'd laugh for a moment until she let go, stepped back, and they waved to each other as he slowly closed the TARDIS door.

She would wait out in the grass until it had gone completely, and then would come back inside, cheeks rosy, eyes full of tears, and her face always lit up by a happy smile. It was odd, to her parents, but to Amy it was just…them. It was Amelia Pond and her Raggedy Doctor.

.

.

Amy watched the History channel constantly. Her parents had taken to watching it with her, and now it had become a game—the first one to spot the Doctor won. He grinned at them out of documentaries, he waved from historical film clips, he had even got himself into a few books.

"Deliberately ridiculous." Amy had said, shaking her head and laughing over a history book one day at their kitchen table. "_Deliberately_ ridiculous." her mother had smiled.

"Well he certainly does get 'round, doesn't he?" Amy just gave her mother an amused smile.

"He certainly does, my Doctor…" And as if in agreement, there was a light kick from the baby.

.

.

Towards the last week of her pregnancy, Amy was getting a bit anxious. It had been longer than usual since she'd seen the Doctor—even on the _television_! He was in trouble now.  
>Her parents were noticing her mood gradually getting more and more irritable until one day, without warning, he blew into the house again, quite out of the blue.<p>

He looked a bit rumpled, pausing in the doorway of their kitchen to give Amy's parents a cheery wave and a very quick 'Hello Ponds!' before dashing up the stairs. ( It was amazing Amy didn't hear him sooner; he tripped one and a half times getting up them in the hurry he was in. ) There was suddenly a shriek from Amy, sending her parents rushing upstairs with all sorts of terrified thoughts in their heads, but when they burst into her room after the Doctor, they found he and Amy tangled up in something that had probably started as a hug at some point, and turned back out.  
>Walking back downstairs, her father chuckled to himself, noting to her mother in some amusement,<p>

"You know, if you'd been half as eager for a good snogging when Amy was coming along…"

.

After three straight days of the Doctor staying put in the Pond residence, Amy had finally asked what on Earth was going on, how he had got this 'time off', and if she was in some dream again—she did **NOT** want to go through that song and dance again, and she told him so with a few threats about just what she'd do if this was more dream nonsense—because him staying in one place for more than about a day was amazing to her. They were sitting curled up together on a wicker bench one night, listening to the rain falling while dry under her porch.

"Well when you're your own boss time off isn't hard to come by."

"Right. So what happened in your case?"

"Oi! I am my own boss!"

"Of course you are." She said with a teasing grin. "So how is the universe fairing with you on holiday?"

"I don't know, actually. We'll ask River after the whole birth spectacle." He made a flamboyant gesture with both hands and a grin on his face. He was genuinely excited by the prospect of her having a baby. Amy was certain he was just not versed in what this actually entailed; because she could foresee a very different take on the whole matter after he was there. She almost laughed to herself thinking that maybe she should make a point to yell at him even worse if he was in the room the whole time just to give him a scare, but she knew she wouldn't.

"River? River's taking care of the universe for now?"

"For now. I'm sure she'll do brilliantly." He didn't look happy about this arrangement, though. "And it wasn't easy to swing, let me tell you." Amy raised an eyebrow, turning around in his lap to face him, minding the 'globe of a stomach' she had now.

"Ooh, do tell."

"Well, for one thing I had to promise her the appointment of 'Godmother' to our child." Amy laughed.

"Were we not going to do that anyway?"

"Well it's done now." She shook her head, laughing again and motioning for him to continue. "And I owe her a holiday coming up soon in a place of her choosing. There are a few other favors I'm sure she'll call into the light soon enough but she stressed she was doing this for you and her godchild very much so." Amy smiled, rubbing her belly.

"We do appreciate it." She said, nodding.

.

The night was winding down, they had both settled into a reclining position; Amy resting against his chest, hands on her stomach out of habit now. His arms were loosely around her, draped over her arms. Whenever the baby kicked she'd grab his hands and let him feel, loving the excitement she felt coming from him every time it happened. Amy was content to be a mother, she was happy that it was the Doctor's—_her_ Doctor's—child, she was happy that they had time together; but the fact that he was so amazed and happy about all of this never ceased to absolutely delight her.

He didn't think he'd ever felt this _pleased_.  
>At least, if he had been at some point, he couldn't recall it. Amy, and he, and their baby—<em>their <em>**_baby_**! he couldn't get enough of that. Their _baby_.—Amy Pond, mother of his child. Amy Pond, who…  
>He had thought to himself time and time again what might happen if this child had powers even similar to his. Amy was potentially the mother of an entirely new race of Time Lords. The thought was awe-striking; imagining more of his race coming into being again…but he was afraid, too.<br>He had thought over and over again about what would become of Amy. He wouldn't age. He wouldn't change. But she would.  
>He couldn't imagine life without her anymore; after 900 years, he'd found that he HAD been waiting for something, someone: for Amy Pond. He just couldn't lose her after all of that.<p>

Those thoughts chilled him. The idea of her one day not being with him…it brought back such intense loneliness into him. He held onto her tightly when the notion struck him, and she looked mildly surprised, but said nothing, just curled up against him, smiling and patting his arms serenely.  
>He always came back to the same conclusion, though. Amy was willing to love him, Amy was willing to give up whatever she had to, was willing to accept all of him and the terms of loving him, regardless.<br>Couldn't he do the same?  
>She had never asked him to change. Never asked him to give up saving the universe for her, never asked him to stop being what and who he was for her. All she had ever asked of him was to love her, trust her, and stay with her.<p>

He supposed, of all things she could ask of him, he could certainly give her those.

Kissing the top of her head, he broke the silence that had settled around them, save for the rain.

"Is this how time normally passes? Very, very slowly, like this?" He asked. She shook her head, smiling.

"So impatient! I know you can't wait to get back to the—"

"It's so…peaceful." He continued. "It's so leisurely. I don't have to hurry, you don't have to hurry. It's brilliant!" Amy craned her head to look up at him.

"Well I don't know about not hurrying—I'm not sure about you but I'd love to be rid of this massive balloon of a belly I have and meet our little one in there." She patted said 'balloon' for emphasis. He grinned, putting a hand on hers.

"Oh no I'd love nothing more myself. But you know, things are always so…hurried! Rush rush rush. You humans have such a slow way of taking things." He mused. She raised an eyebrow.

"Slow. Right."

"Yeah! It's so _relaaaxing_ after all the hustle and bustle. Time is very tiring, you know!"

"I was aware, yes." She laughed. It got quiet again.

"Amy…if I could have been here…been _here_, you know…for this whole thing—"

"I know you would have." She cut him off, pressing their foreheads together. A small gesture. Their gesture. "I know you would have. And that's good enough for me."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _This one was challenging; moreso than I thought it might be. Writing Amy as staying home was easy enough; but I know she would have been much more keen on staying in the TARDIS. I think a happy medium could have been met, as long as she was satisfied with him keeping in touch and spending time with her, but I can't imagine Amy still being terribly happy with it. She's too hands-on and adventurous for that; so I was trying for a sort of 'she's attempting to be responsible in the face of motherhood' vibe here._  
><em>Imagining them as parents is hilarious though, so there was that to amuse me while I was writing.<em>


	6. Hats and Other Distractions

This insert is bringing the rating up, but not by much. The prompt here was:  
><strong>"The Doctor having a thing for Amy in the pirate outfit. "<strong> _(a la Curse of the Black Spot )_

**Disclaimer:** I'm getting used to them now. I still own nothing, I'm coping with that.

* * *

><p>There was something about a woman in a hat that he really took a fancy to.<p>

But Amy Pond in a pirate hat? This just wasn't even _fair_.  
>Amy Pond swinging about on rigging ropes in a tri-corner hat and long coat, waving a cutlass around and threatening pirates; it was becoming hard to focus on anything else while she was doing this.<p>

And all the while, he was mentally swatting himself because they had other things to attend to, like a mermaid who vaporized people and the fact that _Rory_ was here too, which meant he couldn't very well slip off somewhere with Amy anyho—

**No.** No thoughts like that, no. Amy was _married_. Amy's _married_ husband was here. Amy was trying to help him figure out what exactly was going on with the odd sea-strumpet that was picking the crew off in a surprisingly (or not surprisingly, she WAS a siren) very lovely, melodic manner.  
>Also, Amy was married.<br>He was choosing to focus on that bit.

She'd been glancing over at him repeatedly while they were rushing around the ship. It seemed like every time he looked over at her she was looking back at him and Great _Gallifrey_ it was not helping anything at all.

When it came time and the others were getting tired, he was heading up above deck to let Rory, Amy, and Toby rest. He'd been pacing over the wood paneling, hands clasped behind his back, thinking about the siren, thinking about the black spot, the way she was 'killing' the crew, trying not to think about pirate hats…or gingers…_definitely_ not thinking about Amy…and when he heard the sound of someone coming up after him, he turned around expecting to see the Captain.

Instead he was met with Amy hurling herself onto him, arms around his neck as swiftly as she could manage and her mouth very firmly pressing to his. He broke them apart after quite a bit of mental wrestling.  
>"W—<em>Oi<em>! What's this, you shouldn't be up here, get back down below—"  
>"Oh shut up I haven't got the spot, you." She was kissing him again and he was shouting in his head at the universe for making it so infuriatingly hard to be with Amy Pond.<br>"Amy—" He was still trying to resist, managing to pull them apart every few seconds to blurt out some protests as she backed him up against the short stairwell leading to the wheel. "_Amy!_ We haven't got time to—Amy you need to be down below—this is so _bad_—you—listen to me—"  
>And then he was just giving up, hands roaming over her back and sides.<p>

The coat was ditched easily enough, and his jacket as well—even those suspenders were surprisingly simple to get off, and he would have called them traitorous if he wasn't enjoying this so much himself. Which was still bad. He should have more self-control than this!  
>It was the hat.<br>It was always the hats.

It occurred to him vaguely that they were in fact about to _'do this'_ on board a pirate ship in the middle of the ocean with only the cover of a stairwell and a few well-placed barrels. Oh and the siren. He was still considering her a problem and imagining her popping up when he was right in the middle of something like this was not _exactly_ the most ideal confrontation.  
>Amy certainly didn't seem to have qualms about this, though. It didn't really surprise him; she was adventurous enough…he supposed this was the same sort of thing, right?<p>

And now they were both in their knickers, both still noticeably sporting their hats. He moved to knock his off, but she stopped him, leaning in close to his face so that the frontmost corners of their hats met, and her hair was falling over his chest. Her eyelashes tickled his cheek,and he could just _hear_ the smirk in her voice as she said,  
><em>"I'd like it better with the hat on."<em>

The moment he was supposed to have kissed her his eyes flew open and he realized he was resting against a few barrels stacked against the mast of the ship.  
>His hearts were pounding, and one hand went to his forehead as he looked around quickly, eyes wide.<br>A drea—of _COURSE_ it had been a dream—damn _damn **damn**_, at least no one else had been out here, Amy had always poked at him for talking in his sleep, who knew what he'd possibly have been letting out…where was the captain, hopefully they were all still below—He shook himself out of his stupor and cleared his throat in embarrassment, running a rather nervous hand through his hair.

It was the hat.  
>It was always the hats.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _This was a LOT of fun to write, I won't lie. I've seen a lot of fic out there with Amy dreaming about the Doctor, so it was amusing to think about what might 'distract' him for a change._  
><em>And let's face it; Karen could definitely rock that pirate getup.<em>


	7. Home

_"How far do I have to go to get to you? / Many the miles, but send me the miles, and I'll be happy to."_

_"The earth that is the space between / I'd banish it from under me to get to you"_

From '**Many the Miles**' and '**One Sweet Love**', by **Sara Bareilles**.

**Disclaimer:** Still not in ownership of anything, mmk?

* * *

><p>They had come to a place together that wasn't any different planet, not some strange future, or confused past. It wasn't a new time they had to defend, a new city or even country.<p>

They were so far apart. Not physically, just...there was so much between them. So much space and time to cross and so many hurdles to cover.  
>It was around the time Rory was beginning to show signs of acknowledging that he knew something was going on they weren't telling him that Amy informed him that she and he were going to be heading home again.<p>

The Doctor had been just a few feet away listening, but he said nothing. A look out of the corner of Amy's eye saw the blank and almost stony expression on his face when he thought neither of them could see, and it hurt her too, but she said nothing and made no sign of noticing. Rory looked shocked, and there was no masking the obvious relief on his face.

So with that announcement, Rory had headed off to their shared room to collect up the handful of things they'd acquired and brought with them. As he did, Amy made her way slowly to where the Doctor was fiddling with a few of the controls at the console, trying to look neutral as she was heading towards him. She rested against the railing behind where he stood, hands holding the top bar a bit more tightly than they probably should have; but Amy was finding it was much harder than she'd expected to keep herself from wrapping her arms around the man in front of her-and that was what she had to avoid.

After a few moments neither of them spoke. He still had his back to her, but he'd stopped what he was doing just after she'd taken her spot. He was trying to mentally prepare himself to look at her and stay in control; but really there was no way to do that. As soon as he'd come to grips with that hard fact, the Doctor turned, mirroring Amy's pose and crossing his legs, leaning against the console. They very carefully didn't meet one another's eyes until the Doctor made himself speak.

"Things...things can be normal this way." Amy forced a laugh.

"Were things ever 'normal'?" She asked, trying to sound amused. She thought she just sounded sad. It was his turn to fake a laugh.

"No. No I don't suppose they were, were they Pond?" The way he said 'Pond' was so old and so familiar, she shut her eyes for a moment before replying.

"Back in Leadworth. Living a proper human life. Normal. Quiet." Amy expelled a long breath a bit loudly. "Married."  
>It wasn't said with anger, not bitterness, just a blank word. She wasn't sure what to make of it anymore. She saw the Doctor close his eyes, his brow knitting slightly as she said it.<p>

"A proper human life." He repeated. "The life you're supposed to have." He shook his head, looking up at her finally. "I can't give you normal, Amy. I can't give you calm and proper." She met his eyes, and there was so much unsaid that hid in their matching stares.

So much that couldn't be said at all.  
>This was what they had to stop. This was what they were trying to do away with. This was why Amy was going home to live with Rory. With her husband.<p>

This. The gazes neither of them wanted to break. The eyes that spoke love in so many different languages that the universe hadn't even imagined yet. The two skins that sent off sparks when they found one another, the hands that looked for reasons to touch, and the lips that were secret smiles and locked gates to hold on affections that they couldn't articulate.

It wasn't like Amy didn't love Rory.

It wasn't like the Doctor hadn't loved others.

Rory was sweet and kind, he was strong and he was stable and grounded-he was everything she should want and need. Amy felt so selfish, she felt so ashamed when she thought about that; thought about the fact that he was constantly waiting for her.  
>The Doctor knew Amy was human. He'd known so many other girls, other women, other humans. He'd seen them pass, he'd let them go. Amy was like something he'd known for his entire life, and yet she was so new to him all the while. She was so human in everything she did, she was so unlike him.<p>

But there was so much between them. Oceans of time he had seen and she never would. Strange lands of loss and pain that he had known and would pray to any god that would listen to save her from enduring. There was all of space and time compacted into the short distance between them, and recently they had been feeling it more distinctly than before. It glittered back at them from Amy's wedding ring; it softly sent out reminders with every beat of his two hearts.

They'd tried to slowly wean themselves off of one another. Amy had dove into her relationship with Rory and the Doctor had immersed himself in the thought that at least he still had company; and really he did like Rory, he liked him a great deal. He tried to convince himself-and for a long while he thought it had worked-that he was content with Rory being the one to love Amy; but every time they kissed, every time he saw them together...and he knew he was lying to himself over and over again. In the end it had just driven them into one another's arms again; stealing glances, hiding embraces, and it was a heavy burden to bear.

So they had come to the stark conclusion that they had to be apart. It had been a mutual agreement, a standpoint they had come to that would hurt, but that they were convincing themselves would be better in the end.

.  
>.<p>

The first week was agony.  
>After watching Amy leave the TARDIS, the Doctor had tried throwing himself into new worlds, trying to find things to keep him occupied.<p>

He saw her in everything. He heard her voice everywhere. He'd flown into a rage in the library, after three long days of very false smiles at people he ran into and three excruciatingly long days of not even talking to himself about her abscence. He'd been flipping through books, feeling the irritation growing, and then, picking up a book that was lying off to the side on a small chair, a photograph had fallen out. He didn't have to look to know it was her, but he'd done so anyhow, and seeing her happy face next to his smiling at him from the image was too much.

It all came out; books flew off of shelves, the picture was crumpled in his hand, the book thrown across the room; and after hours of anger, he'd found himself in a dark room, surrounded by fallen books and a chair that had been kicked a small ways from where it once sat, still holding tightly to a now-creased and folded photograph of two people who were happy once.

Now all he could do was look at it, fall back against the bookshelf behind him, and slide to a sitting point in the dark library. The TARDIS was silent, even; it seemed she was aching along with him.

Amy had fared no better. Familiar faces and places were infuriating now. She'd tried to take rides on her bike into the countryside, tried taking up hobbies; knitting ended badly. Scrapbooking was never really even started. Painting was the only thing she'd kept up with; but one day she'd ridden on her own out to the quiet field of a farm, and when she'd started painting she hadn't paid attention until she looked back at her canvas and saw all the sunflowers she'd painted. Yellows, oranges, reds, golds and browns...and they made her think of Vincent and made her think of him...

She'd hit breaking point, then, after a week of holding it in and trying to adjust. The painting was struck over with slashes of red and black from her palette and thrown as hard as she could into a nearby river. She was crying before even realizing it, tears falling without even a sound, and she couldn't stop. She sat on a tree stump across from the field staring at the sunflowers until the sun went down and finally she couldn't ignore the vibration of her cell phone from the countless 'are you all right?' and 'when will you be home?' messages she was getting.

After that day, he'd felt numb. Hadn't spoken for a while, even his thoughts were bottled. He was beginning to feel a terrible loneliness again; time and space was nothing if one had no one to share it with.  
>He only wanted to share it with <em>her<em>, though, and she was gone.

Amy had felt hollow. She'd stopped painting, and when Rory had mentioned it she'd shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "Oh I don't know, I'm just not really feeling too creative right now." She'd replied with a light chuckle. She'd lost passion for everything. She tried to spark flame with Rory, tried to find surprise and adventure in the everyday, but it was eluding her, while he seemed content with the routine. Amy wanted to see those blinding sparks again, and she was so sad that she couldn't create them with Rory.  
>She knew the hands that electrified her skin; and they were hands that belonged only to <em>him<em>-but now he was gone.

.

.

Three months. For the Doctor it passed in that bizarre way he was accustomed to; for Amy it passed at a rate that was breaking her.  
>He was doing what she might have called 'going through the motions'. She was trying to do what she'd done as a child; call him a dream, figure out how to live.<p>

They dreamed and they were together again-but even those were beginning to feel more and more fleeting. He told himself she'd probably moved on. She was resilient, his Amelia, and she would be all right.

She told herself that he'd found another friend to traipse along with him. He was the Doctor, he was magic and magnetic and he would be all right because he had to be, her Doctor.

She knew, deep down, it was just her hope flickering out that he would come back out of nowhere for her.  
>He knew, deep down, that it was futile to think she'd change her mind now.<p>

.

.

And then one day the thought occurred to both of them that maybe they were making too much of distance.

He'd traveled through space and time to find her. He'd thrown himself into the sun to ensure she would live. He'd risked complete erasure from the universe for her. There had to be some way to bridge the distance; he'd tossed aside space, sliced through time, broken out of the Pandorica and faced the end of the universe for her already, what was a few more trials?

She'd given up a normal life when she was seven years old. She'd held fast to the knowledge that he WAS real, that she WASN'T crazy in the face of even her family not believing her. She'd waited a total of fourteen years just to go with him in that magical box...she'd faced death countless times to stay with him, she'd had to live through another lifetime not even remembering him-until she had. She'd defied psychiatrists, her own family and friends, time, memory, and even death to be with him-so what was a little more labyrinth to travel through?

Trouble ahead was nothing. They had faced everything before; and they'd done it with hands clasped, eyes on one another's, and side by side.

It was as if in that moment their thoughts were broadcast to each other; a sudden urge that sent the Doctor to the console of a TARDIS that seemed to be humming with anticipation. A very abrupt notion that made Amy drop the few groceries she was picking out and take off running for her house.

Her fiery red hair trailed behind her as she ran, her face set, her destination already in sight. She didn't have to hear the strange noises to know what she'd find out in the garden; didn't have to see the soft flash from behind the house to know what was waiting for her.  
>He didn't have to try and wonder where she would be right then to know what he would see outside the TARDIS door. He didn't have to make and mental preparations, didn't have to call out or even look around, knowing exactly where she was.<p>

The Doctor stepped from the doorway of the blue box, and Amy stepped through the archway and out of the space of her yard. Silent stares. Tentative, slow steps turned into a dash, and they met, finally, in a rush of hair and skin and short breaths. Two sets of arms wound around two bodies that looked like they were trying to melt together. His fingers ran through her hair, over her face, her hands traced his jaw and up over his cheeks, arms hooking around his neck. Their heads met, noses just touching, whispers between them that were barely whispers; inaudible and incomprehensible words of devotion and need and loneliness, of suffering and pain that missing one another had inflicted in both their lives. They clung to one another like the earth clung to the sky; reaching up to meet it as the sky reached down in return.

It wasn't like Amy didn't love Rory.

It wasn't like the Doctor hadn't loved others.

Rory was sweet and kind, he was strong and he was stable and grounded-he was everything she should want and need. Amy felt so selfish, she felt so ashamed when she thought about that; thought about the fact that he was constantly waiting for her.  
>But Amy wanted-Amy <em>needed<em> more than anything-for someone to take her hand and fly with her instead of waiting on the ground. She wanted someone to soar with her, someone to laugh with as they looked down to the ground below, and someone to hold close even if they plummeted back down. She didn't fear falling; she feared never even making it into the air.

The Doctor knew Amy was human. He'd known so many other girls, other women, other humans. He'd seen them pass, he'd let them go. Amy was like something he'd known for his entire life, and yet she was so new to him all the while. She was so human in everything she did, she was so unlike him.  
>But when she was with him she fit so perfectly into that bizarre thing that he was, and it never ceased to amaze him. She was the bird letting the wind carry it wherever it was blowing; just happy to be in flight, happy to have the wind lifting her wings; and he as the wind was in bliss just carrying her along with him.<p>

She was his Amelia Pond; the girl who had waited for him nearly a lifetime, the bird in his sky.  
>He was her Doctor; her Raggedy Doctor that flew her away with him and showed her an infinite universe of amazing things, the wind blowing her away.<br>They were two rivers that had met, and no matter how many times they forked and split, they always ran together again towards the same ocean.

"My Doctor." Amy breathed against his neck, and again, and again.

"Amy. Amy, Amy. Amelia." He murmured into her hair, breathing her in and not wanting to ever stop.

"This isn't too far." she said suddenly, and he paused, shaking his head even as it rested against hers.

"Never too far." He affirmed for her. "It's never too far."

"We're in too deep." Amy's voice held so much joyous laughter.

"We're out too far. Up too high. We're too far gone now. Only way down is to fall."

"I promise I'll hold on the entire way." She said, and he heard the smile in that statement without even looking.

"Back in Leadworth. Living a proper human life. Normal. Quiet." He murmured to her suddenly. "Married."

"But I'm not home." She replied, knowing those words had come out of her own mouth last time they were spoken. A smile split his face in spite of himself.

"This is where you came from, Amy-this is your house." He said for measure.

"Yeah. It can always be my house." She said, and a smile edged across her own mouth. "But it's not my home." Her hands slipped from around his neck down his sides to slide up over his chest to his hearts. Pressing her ear to them for a moment, she shut her eyes, smiling even as tears wet her eyelashes. "This is home." His arms tightened around her and he buried his face in her hair.

"This is home." He agreed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _After a night of music this was what came out. There was no prompt this time, just me writing. It's sort of a big jumble of what I was getting from a number of songs I'd been listening to._  
><em>Until next chapter!<em>  
><em>For those of you who are interested in these, check my profile for a link you might like to use.<em>


	8. Happy Birthday to Us

I was asked to write a fic about the Doctor being drunk  
>...I mean was I really supposed to pass that up?<br>So this is what came out. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** This whole drill. Yep, still own nothing.

* * *

><p><p>

When Amy burst back into the TARDIS from her trip to home, the Doctor was not expecting to see her, with Rory in tow, carrying arms laden with bags and bags of clinking bottles and a cake.  
>His face, Amy had commented, was priceless as she toted her cargo (and Rory) to the library to unload. The Doctor had followed, in a small stupor, wondering what in all the galaxy she had brought back.<p> 

"What's all this then! I thought you were going back to buy clothing!"

"It's my birthday!" Amy crowed happily, waving her arms a bit. Rory grinned at her, shaking his head, and the Doctor looked floored.

"Your-Your BIRTHDAY?" he choked out.

"Yeah!" She laughed. "And Rory's. And yours." He looked a bit deflated and much more confused now.

"What."

"Well, I was thinking. I mean it's been long enough we've all been traveling and all, and since time's different, I thought to myself that after the craziness on that last planet-what was it, Hinky-something-we deserved something to celebrate!" He raised an eyebrow at her as she started to unpack things alongside Rory.

"So we're celebrating...birthdays."

"Yep! All at once." Fair enough, though he'd sort of found those to be boring by now. He wasn't going to say anything to her about it, of course, but now he was turning his attention to the bottles they were pulling out.

"What's all this?" Amy gave him a mischievous little grin.

"_Allllcohol_." She drew out for effect, waving a bottle of it out at him. He took the bottle and looked it over, raising an eyebrow.

"What's this stuff. Rum. Oh! Like _pirates_ drink! Brilliant!" His face was lit up now. "Are we having a pirate-party?" Rory gave him a rather disbelieving look but Amy just laughed.

"Well I do still have that hat...But I figured we'd mix ourselves some drinks too." She motioned to a large bag overflowing with mixes for different flavored daiquiris and all sorts of things "It won't be like going to a pub but it should still taste good!" The Doctor nodded, tapping his chin with an index finger.

"Well I think I like alcohol. Pretty sure. Once. Maybe twice?" He was counting something on his fingers as she watched in amusement. "Yeah I think I do like it." She nodded.

"Good thing. There's _lots_." She rubbed her hands together and then clapped. "Let's get to it then! Look, we've brought cake as well..."

.

.

A few hours later the cake-which had been white with blue writing that said 'Happy Birthday to us!" on it in swirly writing-was gone; a few crumbs and a bit of frosting left on the little cardboard plate.

There were bottles on the floor on their sides, there were empty drink-mix containers and styrofoam cups everywhere, and in the middle of all this was Amy, Rory, and the Doctor, sitting against a bookshelf. Well, Amy and the Doctor were sitting on the floor; Rory was flopped down on the couch next to the bookshelf, snoring softly, a grin on his face and his hair tousled. Amy was in her old battered (but authentic!) tricorner pirate's hat, and the Doctor had run and gotten his cherished fez out for the festivities. Currently Amy and he were the most-clothed; she missing her shoes, socks, and the jacket she'd been wearing before; the Doctor was minus his jacket and shoes as well. Rory, however, was on the couch on his back in his jeans and socks, and that was it. He let out a louder snore suddenly and Amy glanced over at him through half-lidded eyes-and burst out laughing. The Doctor looked over at her suddenly, looking a bit worse-for-wear himself.

"Wot?" He asked, his voice a bit louder than it should have been and sounding very muddled even with the one word. Amy was still laughing.

"Rory-it'ssss Roryyyyy." Amy purred out, laughing hysterically. The Doctor leaned across Amy to crane his neck looking at Rory.

"Whass'ee doin? Sleepin!" He exclaimed, slumping back against the shelf next to Amy. She shook her head, wiping tears from her eyes.

"Rory never could hold 'is alcohollll..." Amy laughed, waggling a finger at Rory on the couch in what looked like great amusement. In truth, she had a fantastic tolerance; so she wasn't even close to being as sloshed as the Doctor and CERTAINLY not as far as Rory, but she was enjoying the blissful hold of near-drunkenness nevertheless. She hadn't had anything to drink in a long time, she realized, not since her wedding.

They'd had fun. She and Rory had mixed drinks trying to figure out what everyone liked, while taking swigs in the meantime. The Doctor had ended up disliking most of what they made, but they'd figured out at long last that he was content to drink a bizarre mixture of rum, banana daquiri mix and orange juice. Amy laughed that he was having some breakfast drink but he was enjoying himself, and that was what she cared about.

He looked as loopy as she'd ever seen him. They'd all three danced around together, they'd sung bar songs at Rory's urging, and they'd finished off the cake in no time as well.

Now as Rory was sleeping, the Doctor was humming something to himself a bit loudly, a blissful smile on his face. Amy laughed aloud seeing it.

"Whaaat?" He asked, looking at her in amusement. "Whass'funny? Oh! Y'know wha' COULD be funny-AMY! AmyAmyAmy-lessget a PET!" he exclaimed, waving his hands. "LESSGET...I dunno a-a DOG. Or a cat. Hm. Do I like cats? I think I like cats..." He pondered this for a moment. "ORRRR we could get a BIRD. An' teach it to talk to us-AMY WE'LL GET A BIRD TO TALK TO US. Won' it be funny? Hilarious!" Amy shook her head.

"I think youuuuuu're funny. Bird mannnnn..." She teased, giving him a tap on the end of his nose with her index finger. His smile widened (which she hadn't thought possible) and he let out a hoot of laughter.

"Well what a pairrr we 're!" He crowed. "'M 'funny' an' yooooou're gorjussss!" He was slurring and grinning and Amy had paused for a moment. Maybe he was slurring his words but she'd heard that last bit just fine.

"What?" She asked turning to look into his face and found that he had already leaned down to look at her-so they were only centimeters apart.

"I said, youuuuu're goooorjuss, Pond!" He repeated, still grinning; now spinning in a circle with his arms out. "Hard of hearin' are ya?" Amy shook her head as he started to topple over again from the dizziness he was inflicting on himself.

"'Course not!" She replied defensively. "You are talkin' nons'nse." He looked affronted, hopping to his feet. He swayed on the spot as soon as he did, but regaining his balance he pointed a finger at her as if accusing her of being 'gorgeous'.

"Ameeeelia Pond, you are GORJUSS an' I won't hear oth'rwise!" She shook her head, laughing quietly.

"Sit back down ya blubbering stupid!" She laughed, waving for him to sit down with her. He wasn't having any of that.

"Never!" Instead he was pulling her up with him, which was not working out well. She was trying to stay down and he was tugging at her arms saying 'gerr'up!' over and over; but right when she decided to just stand up, he gave a particularly hard tug and she and he both toppled backwards in an awkward pile of limbs and laughter. His fez had rolled off now and her hat was sliding off the back of her head.

"Amelia Pond." He whispered now, looking up at the redhead as she was pinning him to the floor. For a moment he sounded sober again. "Amelia Pond, who is the most beautiful woman in the universe." her breath caught in her throat as she stared down into his face. He looked like he was totally coherent, like he'd never been drunk to start with.

And then he started to laugh flapping his arms against the floor of the library almost like he was making a snow-angel.

...Or carpet angel in this case? Amy rolled off of him to flop onto her back beside him. He was laughing now and singing some song in a very bizarre language (very off tune, or was it? She had no idea but it sounded like cows dying.)  
>She sighed, and moved her head so that it bumped his while they were still lying there.<p>

"Y'sound like sommun' set fire t'a dairy farm." She said suddenly. He sat up a bit to look at her.

"A what?"

"A daaairy farm." She emphasized. "Cows dyin'!" She laughed at her own joke. He pouted at her for a moment and then rested against the floor.

"Sh'tap Pond, you like my voice." He said contentedly, folding his arms behind his head, grabbing his fez to slide it back in place as he did. Amy sighed.

"Yeah I s'pose I do." She conceeded, staring up at the ceiling. It was quiet for a long moment. Much too quiet. Amy rolled onto her side to find he was doing the same, staring at her.

"I like your voice too, Pond." He said sincerely, his eyes half-open, a goofy smile on his face. Amy pushed his face away with an open hand, laughing and rolling onto her back again. He moved to prop himself up and pin her to the ground with a hand on either side of her shoulders. " 'M serious Pond! I'sslike...I'sslike birds." He said. Amy looked skeptical.

"Birds?"

"Birds. S'like...birds an' th'ocean an' rain..." Amy was smiling in spite of herself, a blush spreading over his cheeks. Drunk or not this was sweet. "...an' trees...n'the TARDIS..." He finished, trailing off and collapsing onto her. Amy gasped and swatted him playfully, pushing him off a bit. He ended up with an arm out over her, half of him still on her chest, his head on her shoulder. "But yer not mine.." He was mumbling into the carpet.

Amy froze.

"Y'r not mine...not my Pond..."He sounded like he was hitting a 'sad drunk' phase now. "Y'r Rory's Pond. Amy Amy Amy Rory's Pond..." He snuggled his head against her shoulder and she couldn't move. He was legitimately holding onto her now like he wasn't realizing that it was Amy he was talking about and Amy he was holding onto. Probably he didn't.

"S'cuz Rory's human," Came more muffled Doctor-things. "S'cuz he's human n'm' not human n'yer a pirate..." and more nonsense. Amy was torn between feeling distressed and laughing now. "Pirate pirate Pond ginger on the sea..." He'd lifted his head and was sort of howling this bit. "She saved me from the pirates..." Amy was about to laugh, but then his head went back down to the carpet and her shoulder with a 'thunk!' and her eyes widened in surprise. "N'thass'wha it feels like ev'ry time I haf'ta watch Amy with Rory..." he mumbled into her shoulder. Amy's mouth was open slightly, her eyes wide. Was he...he was serious, wasn't he...?

She pushed him off and onto his side to face her. His face looked like a scolded child's as he met her eyes.

"Wha'd'you mean?" She asked.

"I wish y'were my Pond, Amelia." He said quietly, and if it hadn't been so serious a moment, between the look on his face and the sentence he'd just said she would have been laughing. Instead she wrapped her arms around him and leaned up to kiss his forehead.

"M'always your Pond n' yer always my Raggedy Doctor." She said, smiling down at him. He wrapped his arms around her waist.

"My Pond. My my my Amy...Amy Amy Amelia..." He babbled, pressing his cheek to her chest. "Ev'n tho you don' have two hearts like me...y'still got s'much love..." Amy wasn't really sure what he meant by that, but it was fine, everything was fine, she was still just as inebriated and he was and they probably wouldn't remember any of this in the morning and as soon as she thought that she was hoping it was true because she had shimmied down in his arms, taken his face in her hands, and pressed her mouth to his in a very unceremonious manner.

And that was how the night ended. Rory snoring on the couch, half-naked and cradling an empty vodka bottle, Amy and the Doctor across the room on the floor tangled up together in a sort of jumble, snogging until they fell asleep.

.

.

It was a good thing the Doctor was the first to wake up, too, because if it had been Rory or possibly even Amy, this could have been worse. Amy was cuddled up against him, one arm draped over his neck, the other stretched out above their heads and holding her hat. Her legs were holding him down, one was brought up and was over his hip, the other was between his own legs.  
>Her face was so close their noses were touching and he could feel her eyelashes on his cheek when he woke up; opening his eyes before moving at all. When he saw the predicament he was in, he froze up for a second.<p>

_'Oh dear. Bad, this is bad bad bad very bad. How did this-where's Rory oh no did he wake up-Rory Rory Amy! **AMY.** How did Amy what happened how did she get like this-**GREAT GALLIFREY MY HEAD**-how could I get so drunk how did I let her get so drunk what happened what happened what happened **HEADACHE**-'_

The Doctor lurched upright and Amy flopped onto her back from the force of him moving, which woke her up. He was cradling his head in his hands and she woke with a gasp, sitting up and then immediately falling back again with a moan.

"Nnnnghhhh Doctorrrrr..." came a groan from the ground next to him. "Ughh. Are you okay?" she managed to ask, rubbing her face as if to wake herself up more. She'd noticed how they were laying but said nothing.

"Well you've successfully got me hungover, Pond." he joked weakly, and then raised a finger and leapt to his feet. "Ah! I've got just the thing for this in-" the rush of getting up made him latch onto a nearby bookshelf for support. "-in the hospital bay..." He helped Amy to her feet and they both glanced at Rory, still totally unaware and asleep. Amy put up a hand to stop the Doctor, shaking her head.

"Trust me. Let him just sleep it off. We'll deal with it later. Right now. Headache. Need medicine. Or coffee. Something." She grumped, and with arms holding one another up, they meandered slowly out of the library and down towards the hospital bay.

What Amy wouldn't bring up was that she had complete and vivid memory of what had occurred when they were drunk.  
>What the Doctor wasn't going to tell her was that after he sobered up and thought back...<p>

...he could remember too.

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><p><p>

**A/N:**_ So this was interesting. I haven't really written anything like this before; and the last time I was around drunks (in a more intimate setting, with friends?) was a whiiiile ago, so material wasn't really on the up-and-up._  
><em>Can I picture Amy and the Doctor being drunk together? Oh, oh yes.<em>  
><em>And I did.<em>  
><em>And it was pretty hilarious actually.<em>


	9. Hide and Seek

**Disclaimer:**_ BBC owns everything; I'm just having some fun._

* * *

><p>They had stepped out of the TARDIS and into a very, very...<em>modern<em> Paris, France.

By modern, Amy had clarified when the Doctor had mentioned it, he really meant, 'futurey, spacey-wacey, alien vacation spot Paris, France' although this wasn't only a vacationing spot for intergalactic sightseers; in fact the government had so much changed that Paris had it's own royalty now, and even _they_ weren't human. (Actually they were some race of humanoids that were of all heights, with pale purple skin and large, wideset, completely black, oval-shaped eyes. Their hair was a mass of tentacle-like appendages sprouting in varying groupings on the backs of their heads.)  
>He'd just laughed and shrugged it off, and they'd been going to do some of their own sightseeing when they were, as always, interrupted by something.<p>

This time it was the fact that there were works of art and priceless artifacts being stolen from the Louvre.

They ended up on the case, as they always did. This one was very interesting; art-not just paintings, either-ancient pieces of pottery, egyptian sarcophagi, and even entire statues were disappearing. There was no record of any threat detected on the security systems. All the incidents occurred at night, nothing aside from what was taken was even touched, let alone disturbed. The security cameras were the only things that looked to be tampered with; but the cameras themselves were completely untouched, the footage was what was disturbed. It was like the cameras went out suddenly, and then came back online a few hours later.

The security systems were still online the entire time, though and registered absolutely nothing.

The Doctor was bothered by this, and Rory seemed a bit put-off, but Amy was enough in-sorts that when they saw an advertisement for a 'Bal Masque' being thrown for the nobility and certain esteemed guests (or those who would pay to be called such) she immediately leapt on that idea and was insistent that they go.

"I've always wanted to go to a masked ball! And we're in Paris! Oh we HAVE to!" She declared, and the two men with her looked at one another; Rory looking skeptical, the Doctor looking intrigued.

"Oh a costume party? Dancing, drinks, no one knows who anyone else is-brilliant parties, those! I do enjoy dancing in masks, very entertaining. Tell you what, Pond, if we get this mess sorted out in time then we'll go." Amy hopped up and down with a little squeal of excitement and then took both of them by the hands, dragging them off towards the museum again, passersby glancing at them with interest. Rory and the Doctor met her stride after a moment, and seeing the confident look on her face, Rory raised an eyebrow.

"We're off to the museum, boys. We have a ball to attend."

.  
>.<p>

That had been two days prior to the present.

They **HAD** in fact 'solved the mystery'-after some amount of irritation and pushing on Amy's part-and the outcome had not been what they were expecting at all.  
>The museum had updated it's security some several decades ago; but prior to that, there had been robotic sentries that stood guard at night. When the system had been updated, they had been termed obsolete, and all of them had been scrapped, save one, that stood as a sort of exhibit in the museum, deactivated and silent, but taken care of.<p>

There had been an energy storm before all of the theft had broken out. As it had happened, the storm had lit up the museum, and the surge of power had reached the old sentry, and had somehow caused it to power up again, just as it had before, to patrol the nighttime hours of the museum. Unfortunately, no one told the sentry that there had been a security update, and it had termed the new security system as a threat to the art inside the place-so all this time, the old guard had been overriding the security system's cameras, and every night when it awoke and 'discovered a threat', it would move the pieces of art that it saw as endangered to a safe place to ensure they would not be stolen. The caretakers had managed now to find the art-which had been very carefully moved to an old store-room-and had rewired the guard to be compatible with the new system. The Doctor had been a bit touched by this, and Amy had insisted they keep the robot going, saying,  
>"All he was doing was trying to protect these treasures from thieves. What a good boy, he just wanted to protect the art!" Rory had looked a bit nostalgic, seeing the old guard there in the museum, but he'd said nothing. Amy had put her arms around both he and the Doctor as they were leaving, and had tousled their hair.<p>

"Another one down, what a team we are!"

.

And now they were in the TARDIS console room, and Amy was putting her foot down about the masked ball.

"Finally, we're going to this! Costumes, masks, let's go!" She was clapping her hands to punctuate. "Chop chop!" Rory looked unsure about this.

"Didn't we need tickets to this or something?"

"Of course not we've got psychic-"

"Well actually..." the Doctor cut Amy off. "The Parisian King gave us personal invites for what we did over at the Louvre." He pointed out. Amy made an 'aha!' noise, and grinned. The Doctor shrugged good-naturedly. "We may as well take him up on it, right?" Rory nodded, smiling in spite of himself, and shrugged.

"Right, right." He conceeded, and Amy kissed him on the cheek happily.

"Great! Oooh I've got an idea to make this a little more interesting..."

.

Interesting, in this case, had them all dressing in three separate rooms and entering the masked ball separately-with no idea how any of the others were dressed.

"It'll be like a game! We'll look for each other inside and see how long it takes to find all of us! If we can't, then we all meet back at the TARDIS!"

They had agreed, the Doctor with gusto-he couldn't ever resist Amy's game ideas, really-and Rory with some hesitation, but regardless, they were all inside the party now, all in separate parts of the palace, and all looking around for each other while looking over the (very) diverse crowd in amazement. The three of them were really very alike in some ways, and this was a situation that would have proven it, had they all been together.

.

Amy was the winner of the game-or so she'd proclaim later.

Tonight, she was walking on air. She'd always wanted to go to a big fancy ball like this; it was like something out of a fairy tale. With aliens. But still, it was breathtaking. She was in a palace, surrounded by other beings in masks of all shapes and sizes in costumes that ranged from the bizarre to the beautiful and everything in between. Tall, small, thin and willowy and fat and squat; the crowd around her was fascinating to watch. Amy was feeling like a queen right about now; between the gorgeous (and she'd been sure to tell the TARDIS this, multiple times and each with more and more adoration and gratitude thrown in) costume she was in and the fact that she'd been asked to dance quite a few times already, she was feeling like the belle of the ball (quite literally). After wandering through a few large rooms, sampling something she was assuming was a kind of champagne ( "They wouldn't poison their guests-there are humans here too, yeah, I'll be fine!" ) and a few sweets, she spotted the Doctor.

In Amy's mind, there was no speculation. As soon as her eyes found the figure in question, she had said to herself, _'Oh there he is'_, and headed over. She was wondering to herself if she'd really been looking for Rory at all; while she wanted him to enjoy himself, that secret bit of her had been looking so forward to tonight so that she could snag a dance with the Doctor.

The closer she got, the more convinced she was that she had the right man. If she'd been certain before, it had been about 99.9%-and now it was 100.  
>The costume was the first thing she took in; and immediately she wished she could see the two of them in a mirror together.<p>

Tonight Amy was in black and silver. When they'd retreated off to dress, she'd found the TARDIS had procured for her a dress that was like wearing the night sky; all sheer silk and ruffles, fabric that had something twinkling spun into it. It whispered around her legs when she moved and clung just enough to give her a very feminine form. Her mask was the same as the dress; and it was like no other mask she'd ever worn. It fit on her head like a headband; some twinkling stones making up the band on top of her head, a drape of the same fabric of the dress hanging over the top half of her face in a single, thin layer to obscure her eyes, and a large, silver crescent that pinned in her hair to sort of set the whole look off. Minimal, oddly twinkling jewelry-a necklace and earrings-made her look like she was wearing stars. She'd asked the TARDIS that, actually-"Did you catch a few stars for these? My god they're the most gorg things I've ever seen girl!" she'd gushed, but now seeing the Doctor's ensemble, she sent out a silent _"TARDIS YOU BEAUTIFUL BLUE BOX, YOU ARE THE MOST BRILLIANT, MAGNIFICENT GIRL I HAVE EVER MET AND I AM PROMISING YOU THE MOST QUALITY POLISHING YOU HAVE EVER HAD WHEN WE GET BACK"_ to the TARDIS. If she couldn't hear her...well, then Amy was going to make sure to tell her face to face later anyhow.

If Amy was dressed like the night, then he was dressed like the day. Quite obviously, too-Amy's mask was the moon, and she was noticing on his there was a large golden sun in the same style as her silver moon.

Amy's gown was almost like the robes of a greek goddess-but his outfit...she almost laughed at how very _him_ it was. White and gold; like an Indian prince, complete with a mask in the form of a head-wrap of white fabric embroidered in gold (with aforementioned golden sun accessory) that draped down to cover his neck, and a gold mask to cover his eyes. A tunic top, a pair of very voluminous pantaloons, a pair of slippers with curled up toes, and an actual cape completed it-but there was a dead giveaway that DID make Amy laugh as she put a hand on his arm and he spun around to face her. He looked absolutely blown away; eyes going from her done-up ginger hair to her just-peeking-from-under-her-skirt silvery-heeled feet, but Amy was giggling.

"Hello, Doctor." She greeted with a wink and a grin. He still looked shocked.

"Pond! _Blimey_-you-that-"

"Well thank you!" She laughed, and stood next to him, twirling her skirt a bit and bumping her hip against his.

"How did you know it was me? I've got to ask. It didn't take too long to find me either, you're like a proper _hunter_-"

"Doctor, how many eastern princes do you know that wear gold bowties?" She tugged at the offending little accessory, raising an eyebrow at him from behind her mask and smirking, dark-painted lips curving up in amusement.

"They would if they were cool eastern princes. Bowties are cool." He straightened the tie again, trying to look affronted but smiling in spite of himself, and offering her his arm, sweeping her off towards the dancing as she wrapped her hand around theoffered arm. "Well I think I should put those waltzing lessons of yours to some use, eh?" He suggested, grinning at her, and motioning with a little bow towards all the people dancing to a lively song, offering his hand to dance. She laughed and took it ceremoniously, and her laughter mingled with his as they both skipped off across the floor, dodging other couples and having a grand old time.

The music slowed, their laughter quieted, Amy had stopped pointing out strange costumes and the Doctor had stopped his explanations of what different creatures were. They just smiled at one another, hand in hand, arms comfortably holding them together, and eyes locked.

"You look lovely, Amelia Pond."

"And you look dashing, Raggedy Doctor." she smiled. "Even if you're wearing a bow tie."

"Oi!"

.

They danced together like they had in the TARDIS before, danced like it was just the two of them, two pairs of hands, two sets of eyes, two smiles.

And then in unison, Amy and the Doctor spotted the Parisian King and what had to be his daughter-a shorter, significantly more surly-looking version of himself done up in a very frilly pink dress, which Amy assumed marked her as female.

"Ah oh." The Doctor said suddenly, trying not to call attention to himself.

"Ah oh?" Amy repeated, looking from them to him and back again.

"The King may have wanted me to meet his...lovely...daughter...tonight." Amy was about to say something when he hurriedly cut her off, "I'm sure she's absolutely delightful! However I've got other obligations tonight and-"

"Oh an 'obligation' am I?"

"Now Pond that's not what I-"

"Oi, Raggedy Man."

"What?"

"Think you can run in those slippers?"

She'd grabbed his hand and together, they'd slipped through the crowd and off the dance floor, looking around for the entry to the next room. The King, it appeared, had spotted them, and now was dragging his daughter along with him in their direction, Amy noted while she and the Doctor were glancing back as they hurried off, laughing in unison, hand-in-hand. What Amy did not mention, and what she did not know if the Doctor had noticed as well, was Rory, unmistakeably Rory, dressed as a masked Roman Centurion (the old girl certainly had her humor), looking around this room to see if he spotted either of them as they were running out. Amy realized after a moment that really she probably ought to have stopped, but she kept running, squeezing the Doctor's hand gently as her other hand held up her billowy skirts.

He was running along beside her, one hand tightly hanging onto hers, the other holding his turban onto his head. He was laughing harder than he'd laughed in a long time; due muchly to Amy's infectious laughter-but also because this was just like things had been before, when he'd first taken her for a ride in the TARDIs; and that seemed like an eternity away sometimes. This was them; running, laughing, hand-in-hand, not knowing where exactly they were going, but enjoying the trip.  
>He glanced over at her as they made their way into another room, watching as she glanced over her shoulder, a smile lighting up her face, her hair almost floating around her head in loose curls, coming out of the hold she'd had them in. He just laughed harder, laughing with pure joy at the fact that with Amy, he could just let go sometimes, give in to being happy and playing games and running through ballrooms in costumes.<p>

.

.

They ended up outside, after ducking around corners and thinking they'd given their pursuers 'the slip', Amy called it. The Doctor had chuckled at that. 'Giving them the slip. I like that. The 'slip'.' And Amy had just laughed.

They burst out onto an open-air garden that was on an upper floor of the palace. There were others outside; mostly couples that were scattered around kissing on benches or strolling and looking at the sky; some were laughing but it was a quiet noise out here as opposed to the loud din of the inside party. When the Doctor and Amy came dashing outside running and laughing breathlessly, a number of heads turned, but the two completely disregarded it, hurrying out into the night and bumping shoulders and arms as they continued along the main pathway through the courtyard. Glancing back, suddenly the Doctor tugged Amy off the pathway and towards a nearby tree-but Amy had looked when he'd pulled and had tried to then steer them herself, so the two ended up tumbling into a patch of reeds with a loud 'Oof!' from the Doctor and a cut-off 'Aah!' out of Amy. Their heads poked up out of the tall plants for a moment, and seeing the king and his daughter (and Rory further back), they immediately lowered their eyes again, until they saw them all look around a bit, come a little closer, and then finally head back to the palace to look inside again.

When the coast was clear, it seemed neither of them had been breathing, and Amy collapsed onto the Doctor's chest as they both let out their held breaths and began laughing again.

"Well that was close!" he spoke up from the ground, Amy looking down at his face, the masks still covering them both. She grinned and pushed his up off of his eyes before lifting hers to drape over the top of her head and out of the way. In the dark, there was still light from the bright, bright moon and from the few scattered lights along the walkways in the gardens. The Doctor grinned up at his companion and she grinned back, and in their eyes it passed between them that this was nostalgia.

This was just like things had been, this was like the silliness they'd always got into before. Amy rolled onto her back next to him, her dress cool against her back in the grass, both of them still catching their breath. She could feel, after a moment, his hand reach over and take hers, giving it a quick squeeze that she returned, lacing her fingers with his. He sighed contentedly, and she smiled up at the stars.

"So was this your fairytale evening, Pond?" the Doctor asked, amusement ringing in his voice. Amy let out a laugh.

"I think I could call it that, yeah." she replied.

"Yeah?"

"Sure. 'A princess and a prince from two foreign lands running away from the rest of the party and their responsibilities to spend some time together'...sounds pretty fairytale to me, hm?" He was caught a little off guard by that for a second, but smiled.

"A princess and prince, eh?"

"Well, a princess and a magician, then. A magician in a bow tie."

"I prefer 'Wizard'."

"I think that's a bit too 'Harry Potter' for you, Doctor." A deep sense of nostalgia struck him when she said that, and he closed his eyes, remembering someone else briefly.

"Oh yes..." he replied quietly. "Yes I suppose it is..." That was neither here nor there now. It got quiet for a moment.

.

"So many stars..." Amy mused. The Doctor grinned.

"Infinite worlds out there, Pond. Strange worlds, brilliant worlds." She smiled.

"Worlds we can only get to in the TARDIS." It was there, in their voices. The unspoken thing that would never be said, never ever.

_'You and I. You and I until the end of us, you and I seeing the stars. As long as there's you and me, we'll see the most wonderful things, we'll lead the most mad, mad lives._'

It didn't need to be said. It was known, shared between them in everything they did; everything they said and every time they touched. He turned his head to look at her, and she did the same.

"All of time and space." He started, and her smile widened.

"Everywhere and anywhere."

"Every star that ever was." Amy's forehead met his.

"Where do you want to start?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _Done after spending some time at work doodling pretty dresses. (A whole fic based around a dress idea? Why yes, yes this is.)_  
><em> I was going for a feel like the series 5 episodes had; the two of them being silly together, running, that sort of thing. I miss those days.<em>


	10. Spoken and Unspoken

For **Hannah**, who left me a lovely review and a few plot bunnies of her own.  
>Thank you so very, very much, all of you who have been reading and reviewing! Your feedback has been wonderfully encouraging, and I'm glad you all are enjoying these; I'm certainly enjoying providing them.<p>

**Disclaimer:**_ BBC owns Doctor Who. I haven't got much claim here._

* * *

><p>They made a point to enjoy whatever alone time they had.<br>Between alien attacks on foreign planets and whatever else the universe had to throw at them, they didn't get much of it.

On Lunari Mureon II they're chased by a herd of animals that look like a hybrid between wolves and tigers. The Doctor is explaining as they run that these animals are really very fascinating and that he's seen them in one of the great zoos on Centauri Delta-they were much gentler there, the manner of these left much to be desired but oh, that was just how things worked out in the wild he supposed-and he manages to remember they didn't swim just _after_ he and Amy dove off of a small cliff to the indigo waters below.

He and Amy come up to the surface again spitting out water that Amy notes tastes very odd and the Doctor is staring upwards at the sky, watching as the strange twin moons grow brighter above them and the sky grows darker. Amy loves the skies on other planets; the constellations and stars are never the same, and it amazes her. She makes up names for the different formations she sees, even after being corrected by the Doctor more than once.

It doesn't dawn on either of them to think of what might be lurking in the deep alien sea around them until something glowing is heading for the surface. Amy looks at the Doctor with wide eyes and tries not to panic as the light is getting closer to their legs. The shore isn't far off, but chances are whatever is beneath them can swim faster than they can. He starts a train of thought going over what this could be, names off a few superpredators they may be running into and Amy is about to smack him and start swimming for the shore as fast as she can when suddenly he snaps his fingers and looks delighted.

"Ah! They're Marina Luminatas!" He declares, and Amy soon finds out what this means.

.

The large glow is a swarm of enormous, bioluminescent, jellyfish.

They're as wide across as loveseat sofas, and their capped bodies glow softly with natural hues of white, yellow, orange, pink, and violet. Amy looks mortally terrified, but the Doctor is unpeturbed. In fact he looks like this is Christmas day as the large creatures float up towards them. They're everywhere! Amy sweeps her body closer to the Doctor's in the water, holding onto his shoulders as he's looking around at all the 'Marina Luminatas' surrounding them.

"Amy! Ohhh _look_ at all of them! This must be the start of the summer here!" Amy's less enthused.

"Y-Yeah, right, summer-Doctor I _really_ think we need to be swimming off now..." he whirls around to face her, his eyes wide with excitement, Amy's wide with terror.

"Swim off? Oh Pond you've got it all wrong!" He reaches out to the Luminata closest to them and gently lifts one of the tentacles trailing along beneath it to the surface. It's lavender in color and looks like any jellyfish's stingers, only much larger and with softly twinkling nerves dotting the length of it. Amy's face contorts in absolute shock and she shoves herself off of him in the water, gasping loudly. He only laughs.

"Alien planet, Pond." he states matter-of-factly. "These gorgeous blobs won't hurt you at all-well, unless you get stuck in those tentacles of theirs; they can catch you up like a spiderweb! And in that case you'd just drown; nothing to do at all with stinging or any of that nonsense those things on Earth do...No, these fellas are like giant ocean lanterns! They come out at the beginning of the summer here to mate and binge on the tasty little microorganisms that grow in the warm water. Most of the people from neighboring planets come here during the summers for vacationing!" he glances around at the cliffs around them and the beach a little ways off. "From the looks of it we've beat the rush." He sounds impressed and a bit surprised. Amy's relaxing now, now that she's found out that these enormous mega-jellyfish aren't going to kill her in what would probably be one of the most painful ways possible.

She and the Doctor actually swim around with the bizarre-but lovely-things for a bit, after swimming to shore and leaving their excess clothing behind. They swim in their knickers, (and the Doctor in his bowtie, which he refuses to take off to Amy's great amusement) and it's one of the most amazing and enjoyable swims Amy's ever had. They swim underwater and find that it's completely lit up and that the water is clear to see in. They swim through the underwater forest of Luminata tentacles and it's like swimming in space as the trailing appendages twinkle around them in the otherwise dark water. They play a strange game that's like tag and hide-and-seek through the glittering strands, swimming around among the herd of Luminata, every so often tagging one another and then coming to the surface together to breathe and laugh.

After a few rounds of this tag, Amy tries to surprise-attack the Doctor by bursting out from a cluster of tentacles at him. He's ready for her, though, and instead of tagging him with both hands, she shoots herself right into his open arms, and he wraps her up in an embrace and as she struggles to get free they float up to the surface bursting with laughter. Amy shoves him off and sends a spray of water at his face, and his hair hangs over his eyes in a curtain. She laughs and laughs and he comes back at her with a splash of his own-and by now, they're splashing one another and slipping through the mass of ocean animals and laughing happily while they spit and smack and find any ways they can to send currents and jets of water at each other. It doesn't matter that she's a grown woman (on Earth, at least), it doesn't matter that he's over 900 years old, it doesn't matter that they're on an alien planet and swimming in an ocean full of glowing, giant jellyfish in their underwear; they're enjoying themselves, and they're alone together.

When their limbs begin to get tired, they manage to crawl atop one of the Luminata's caps, and lay on their backs side-by-side as the creature drifts along, unperturbed by it's passengers. Amy and the Doctor gaze up at the cerulean-colored moons that take up most of the sky above them, shining brightly on the ocean as they float, and the stars shining in the dark around the moons. After a few minutes of peaceful quiet, Amy feels the Doctor's fingers lace with hers. She scoots herself closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder and pulling his hand onto her stomach, wrapping her hand around it. She sighs, and he turns his head to look at her for a long moment, just gazing at her silently. She looks peaceful and happy, a smile on her face as she lays there with him. He smiles in return and settles next to her, pulling his hand from her and sliding his arm under her, taking her hands with his opposite hand.

"Oh Pond." he murmurs.

"Oh Doctor." She murmurs back, her smile widening. And that's all that needs to be said.

.

.

On Ma'abaraxa, Amy declares they are vacationing. She calls this planet the 'Space Tahiti', because it looks so much like the tropics of Earth that she's always wanted to visit. They end up being invited to a wedding-the Doctor knew the groom's parents, apparently-and the ceremony is one that Amy absolutely adores. They stand out on the white sands of the island they're on, not far away from the clear, blue ocean beyond. Palm trees brush one another in the breeze, the water is only gently lapping the shore, the sky is cloudless and the sun is warm and bright. She and the Doctor are given white robes to dress like the others attending the ceremony, and they stand together, watching the whole thing with silent smiles.

The bride is lovely in her simple white dress; a tan-skinned blonde woman who is probably a few years older than Amy, and is named Corua. The groom, named Tamal, is about the same age as Corua, dressed in loose-fitting and simple white clothing, similar to the other men in the crowd. His hair is a rich brown, and his skin is as tan as his bride's. They wear bright blue flowers in their hair, and as they stand facing one another, their hands in one another's hands, they gaze at one another with a deep, sweet love. They stand watching, and without either of them looking away or uttering a word, Amy and the Doctor's hands find one another and their fingers intertwine.

The ceremony is simple. The two exchange vows that are personal and unique to them; promises made to one another of loyalty and love and protection, all while their hands are clasped. With one hand, they each take the blue flower from the other's hair, and still holding hands, they walk to the shoreline, and put the blossoms adrift in the water. When the two blooms are carried out (after a few moments of the water coming in and out) the crowd standing further away bursts into cheering, clapping and hooting and whistling, happy laughter and tears. The bride and groom share a kiss while the water sweeps around their feet, and Tamal carries a blushing and teary-eyed Corua back to the crowd, where the two of them are adorned with necklaces, wreathes, crowns of the same blue flowers as before. They look like the happiest people in the world, and when the Doctor glances at Amy, he finds she has one hand to her mouth, her eyes full of tears, but she is positively beaming for the just-married couple. His thumb rubs the back of her hand gently, affectionately, and she smiles up at him in a way he will never forget. She looks back at Corua and Tamal and tells him,

"I think I'd like to get married this way."

.

They are invited to stay at the large wedding compound for all of Tamal and Corua's guests. Amy is on cloud nine; they have their own private little bungalow and everything. She teases the Doctor about the single bed and they laugh together while peeking around their little arrangement. After a bit it begins to get dark, and Amy goes to bathe before they head off to the party that night for the newlyweds. Her bath is quiet, calming, time to think; and settling into the warm water, she thinks of blue oceans, palm trees, warm sun, and it's comforting...but it fades. Her mind drifts to the marriage ceremony, to the looks of love on the wedded couple's face, and then to the Doctor's hand in hers, his thumb stroking her hand, and the look in his eyes when she looked at him on that beach. Amy smiles, and remembers what she said to him, wishing things could be that simple.

She's starting to drift off and gets up, drying herself off and pulling on a fresh set of knickers and a bathrobe to comb her hair in. However, when she comes out of the bathroom, the Doctor isn't there. She stops, rubbing at her damp hair with a towel and looking around curiously, wondering aloud where that idiot had got off to. She shrugs, though, knowing somewhere inside that if he was in any sort of trouble, she'd feel it.  
>Amy's in a thin, cool, and comfortable white sundress when she sets about fixing her hair. She combs it and combs it out until it's tamed and falling in waves-and as she looks around the room, the urge strikes her suddenly, and she starts to braid little white flowers they'd found in a vase (as a decoration, she was told) into her hair. She's grinning and humming and wondering what her Raggedy Doctor who thinks bowties and fezzes are cool will think of this fashion statement.<p>

It's around the time that she's braiding the last of the little blossoms in that she starts hearing music. It's not from any radio or machine, this is live music that someone is playing outside. She gives her reflection a confused look and then gets up, heading for a large window that it seems to be coming from.

There's no actual windowpane; just a curtain covering the opening to look outside. Amy pushes it aside-and since the place is off the ground on stilts, she has to look down a bit-and there, out on the grass in the light of the torches burning outside their little cabin, is the Doctor; guitar in hands and a large grin on his face. He looks up at her with that wide smile, strumming at the instrument and starting up a sweet little tune that makes her grin and lean over the windowsill on her arms to watch him.

Afterwards, she figures she should have seen this coming.

He starts to sing, and she has to cover her mouth with the back of her hand to stop herself from giggling, but really, it's very sweet.

_"Amelia Pond  
>I've grown awfully fond<br>Of you  
>And oh, you know it's true<em>

_My girl with a name from a fairy tale  
>Even though you compared me to a star whale<br>I'd compare you to an angel  
>Though you're nowhere near as weepy<br>But that's fine by me  
>'Cos that means you're not creepy<em>

_Come along, Pond  
>We'll travel far<br>Away  
>We'll see a new star<br>Each and every day  
>Keep you with me always<br>'Cos I want you to stay_

_You and me, we do a lot of running  
>And even after all that<br>It's still just really stunning  
>How well you can keep up-<em>  
><em>Hate it when you get too far ahead,<em>  
><em>You know I'd be happy<br>To just carry you along instead_

_Come along, Pond  
>We'll travel far<br>Away  
>We'll see a new star<br>Each and every day  
>Keep you with me always<br>'Cos I want you to stay_

_Oh, you think I look like a fool  
>Even though you know my bowtie is cool<br>But I'd still do anything for you  
>Turn back all the clocks<br>Since there's nowhere else I wish you'd be  
>Than with me and my sexy blue box<em>

_Amelia Pond I've grown awfully fond  
>Of you<br>Oh, you know it's true  
>Nothing I wouldn't do<br>To keep you from being blue  
>'Cos when you're blue, I'm bluer blue<br>And the TARDIS is the only blue we-"_

Amy decides to stop this while it's still adorable and not so blue. Her laughter bounces around the courtyard and the Doctor stops his singing and his strumming now, beaming up at her like a child seeking affection. when he looks again, though, she's swung herself over the windowsill and is sitting with her feet dangling over the grass.

"Hey, Doctor, c'mere." She beckons, grinning. He set the guitar on the grass and walks towards her, about to tell her to move off the window like that, but when he's close enough she launches herself from the window and down to fall with a light 'whump!' into his arms. He stumbles back and makes a surprised and disgruntled noise as he catches her.

"Amy!" comes his surprised voice, "Really! Leaping out of windows-and here I was trying to make a grand gesture!" She laughs and kisses him lightly, but lets it linger for a moment before pulling away.

"What brought on the musical mood, hm?" She asks, her arms wrapping around his neck.

"Well...you said before you'd like to get married like Corua and Tamal did." her expression is blank.

"Right."

"Well Pond, depending on what you answer in a moment, you can." Still the blank look, but there's realization dawning on her now.

"Wait a-"

"You see, on Ma'abraxa, the way to ask someone to marry you is with a romantic song. If they like it then you're all set. Very musical culture, the Erati." Amy stared up at him in surprise for a long moment.

"A romantic song, hm?"

"Precisely. And if they approve then you're all set."

"Well then, Doctor, when you ask like that..." He almost looks stricken for a brief second, but she kisses him, a real, long kiss this time, and she can feel his arms tightening around her. "It was the most beautiful love song I have ever heard." She declares softly, grinning at him. "So now what?" For a minute he looks like he's in shock, thinking of a million things to say and not deciding to say any of them, until he finally forces himself to speak  
>"Well I'm glad you liked it Pond." She just laughs and bumps their foreheads together, and he laughs and holds them there. "Shall we get married, Fiancee Pond?"<p>

"I'd be happy to, Fiancee Doctor." She replies, grinning.

.  
>.<p>

And they do get married.

It's rarely spoken of again between the two of them, but they indulge for the night. They slip away from the party and get a holy man to officiate as they perform their ceremony on the beach, and they decide that staying at least for another night (and another day, Amy's pressing for) wouldn't be so bad. Their blue flowers glow with strangely luminant pollen, and they do not have a crowd waiting to greet them with cheers. They stand together, the holy man off to their side, and they gaze at one another with smiles and little laughs that they'll always remember but will seldom bring up again. He takes her hands and they make up vows on the spot.

"Amelia Pond, with flowers in your hair and a fairytale name to match."

"My Raggedy Doctor, with a silly bow tie and floppy hair."

"I won't make you wait again."

"I'll wait anyways." He grins.

"I'll always protect you. I won't let anything happen to you."

"I'll remember that you're always coming for me when I'm in trouble." She's grinning at him now too. His smile softens, and his hands tighten around hers.

"I promise to always be your Doctor, Amelia Pond." Her expression is amazed for a moment, and as she smiles, her eyes shut tightly and tears prick at the edges of them.

"I promise to always be your Amelia Pond, Doctor."

They barely register to move and set their flowers off to float, they're so absorbed in one another in that moment. They move, finally, and when they set one another's flowers in the water, the tide immediately carries them out. Amy watches them swirl off out into the open ocean and asks,

"Why do they float them away like that?" the Doctor, at her side, watches the blooms float as well, and answers,

"To the Erati, it symbolizes setting off into the future together. The couple is carried into a new life, the flowers are carried out to sea. It's good luck, the faster the flowers are carried away. The further they make it, the longer the couple has a future together.

The Doctor and Amy kiss, they hold tight to one another, and they turn away from the ocean, deciding to leave to fate how long their flowers stay afloat.

.  
>.<p>

Later, she isn't sure how long it's been, Amy is folding clothing next to Rory in their room, and she realizes she's humming something old and familiar. She smiles, but doesn't sing the words.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _That song was originally going to be shorter. And a lot less...actually to begin with I was thinking of glossing over it altogether. I got a tad carried away, but imagining the Doctor singing to anyone is nothing short of hilarious (and adorable to boot) so I got to about verse two and couldn't stop anymore._

_Again, I love all of you who've been reading and reviewing and favoriting these stories! Thank you all so much; you've been wonderful to me._


	11. Departure

**Disclaimer:** _Doctor Who belongs to people who are not me. :C_

* * *

><p>Amy was stepping out of the TARDIS for the last time.<p>

They both had known this day would come. The Doctor needed to move on, Amy needed to move on.  
>Both he and Amy needed to let go, they needed to be able to accept the fact that they would not always be together, and the longer they stayed with one another, the harder it was growing to let go.<p>

Amy knew she would be all right. She knew the Doctor would be all right. He knew he would be all right, and he knew, in Rory's hands, Amy would be all right.

She and the Doctor were alone now, standing in the darkness of her backyard, in the doorway of the TARDIS, for the last time. His thumbs rubbed gently over the backs of her knuckles as they stood, their foreheads together in silence. He brought a hand up to her cheek and kissed her forehead before putting them together again and moving his hand from her cheek to the back of her head. She mirrored the hold on him, and shut her eyes.

"Amelia Pond..." he whispered suddenly, his voice proving the obvious strain on him to not let out all of the emotion he was feeling. She felt his tears on her cheeks, mixing with her own. "My mad, _impossible_, Amy Pond. Going to live her life." he looked up into her eyes, and she met his gaze. They both saw tears but spoke nothing of them. "What a wonderful journey your life will be now." He smiled at her and managed a soft laugh.

"It always has been." she replied, smiling in return. "Always, ever since you, my Raggedy Doctor." She closed her eyes again. He did the same.

"Tell me it will be all right, Amy." He said suddenly, hesitantly. "I've always told you to trust me...and now I need to trust you." He opened his eyes just as she did, and they stared at one another intensely. "Tell me things will be all right." Amy had to collect herself. She had to be strong.

"Things will be all right." She managed. Her voice was barely a whisper, but she was going to do this. They would be all right. _They would be all right._"I will be all right. You will be all right." She said, and managed to smile. "You will go and have so many more magnificent adventures. You'll save countless other worlds and you'll meet other little girls whose lives you'll change and make mad and impossible. You will be the Doctor, and you will be all right." She moved her hand from the back of his head to cup one of his cheeks and stroke her thumb over his cheekbone, her opposite hand squeezing his tightly. He squeezed back and brought a smile out, for her. She was so strong, his Amelia. She was always strong. He knew she would be all right. He would trust her.

"Mind Rory, will you?" she laughed.

"Always. Mind the old girl, all right?"

"As if you had to ask." He laughs this time. Her face grows serious again, and though her smile stays, it is filled with sadness now.

"Find Melody-find _River_, Doctor. _Find her _and love her." She closes her eyes tightly and brings both hands to his face now, sucking her lips in with the effort to stifle a sob. "Love her and protect her, and be her Doctor." His arms wrap around her, he can't stop himself. He buries his face in her hair, crushing her to his chest.

"I'll love her as much as I love her mother." his muffled response came, and she felt damp tears in her hair. Her arms wrap around him and their grips render them both nearly breathless.

"Love her more." Amy says, shaking her head against his shoulder. The Doctor can't respond; he doesn't know if he can lie to her, not now.

.  
>.<p>

They let go after what seems like an eternity. Amy steps onto the grass, the Doctor stays in the doorway.

"Don't ever forget me, right?" Amy says, a playful smile on her face. He laughs at this, to lessen the pain it causes.

"As if I ever could." he assures her, and she clasps her hands together behind her back, smiling up at him for the last time. He smiles back, and they say nothing, their eyes locked for a long moment. Tears begin to dry, lips finally form words, aches in three hearts begin to try and heal.

"Goodbye, my Raggedy Doctor."  
>"Goodbye, my Amelia Pond."<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _There wasn't really any intro I could think of for this._  
><em>This was something I wrote a few nights ago, after a conversation I'd had about AmyKaren probably leaving the show by/before season 7. To be honest, I don't want to see Amy go, not at all. However, when she does leave, I want her to leave in a way that sets her in a good life, and not in some bizarre and tragic circumstance that leaves her without her memory or worse._  
><em>And really, I think that the Doctor would be all right, that what really matters to him above all else is that Amy is <span>safe.<span>_


End file.
